Hiccstrid Short Stories Collection
by WinterFury10
Summary: Hey guys! So this is just a collection of Hiccstrid short-stories-that-ain't-THAT-short. Please do read the Author's Notes before the beginning of every story to understand the main part! The stories may contain some Merricup parts but I'm a Hiccstrid Through and Through! And no Evil Merida in my stories, I guess. There are gonna be different short stories and they'll be different.
1. My Biggest Mistake 1

**Hey guys! Yeah, I know, I have so many fanfics to complete but I've been into Rtte lately and lemme tell you, I've never been into Hiccstrid so damn much! Its like one of the top two fav ships, the first being JELSA!**

 **IMPORTANT NOTE, READ BEFORE CONTINUING WITH THIS STORY! So lets just pretend that:**

 _ ***Blindsided never happened (how much ever it pains me to say this, considering the fact that it is my favourite episode and that I've watched it SO MANY TIMES ALREADY!)**_

 _ ***Shell Shocked just went on like:  
a) Viggo falls in the volcano  
b) Astrid punches Hiccup on the shoulder for losing the dragon eye**_

 _ **c) Hiccup says that his "friends" -AHEM- are more important**_

 _ **d) Things went on normally and Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut never had the conversation of Hiccup or Astrid dying and of Hiccup's so-called Gambling problem**_

 _ **e) After the edge exploded, the riders went back to Berk and DAgur and Heather returned to Berserker island to continue the former's role as chief.**_

 **Well, thats the backstory. Hope you guys like it!**

Life went on normally at Berk. The Riders had returned to their motherland after the volcano exploded, sending the Edge down in the water. But instead of resuming the jobs they had before they went out in the Great Beyond, the gang stayed together and flew around the islands, making sure that the dragons were safe _and_ they were having a vacation after finally defeating two of the greatest Dragon Hunters.

But maybe, this day wasn't so normal after all...

"Hiccup!" The Chief of Berk aka Stoick the Vast also known as Hiccup's father, shouted when he saw the Night Fury in the sky, along with the other dragons, excluding a certain Deadly Nadder and its Rider.

"You, called dad?" Hiccup descended in front of his house.

"We need to talk son" Stoick said as he gestured his son to follow him inside their house.

"Oh no, what have I done this time?!" Hiccup groaned, Toothless chuckling behind him.

"Oh, you haven't done anything son. But this is serious business" Stoick sat down on his chair, gesturing his son to sit as well.

"So, whats the big news?" Hiccup asked.

"You do remember that we are alliances with the king of the mighty Clan of Dunbroch from the other side of the earth, right?" Stoick asked. Hiccup stiffened and his eyes widened when he remembered a certain someone from his past.

"Y-yeah..." He stuttered, hoping his father is gonna say what he thought he was gonna say.

"Well, King Fergus and his family will be here tomorrow. They had sent me the message a month ago as the voyage is really long from their place to Berk. But I decided not to stress you out as you had just returned back home. You understand me?" Stoick asked to which Hiccup just nodded as the older man continued.

"You do remember the Princess lad, dont you?" He smirked. Hiccup blushed a little when he saw the smirk on his father's face, knowing very well what that meant.

"She's coming here, isn't she?" He asked, trying to hide his excitement.

"Yes. Along with her three brothers" Stoick nodded.

"Three brothers? You mean-"

"The children Elinor was pregnant with the last time they came here? Yes. And I said children because it wasn't a single child but actually triplets" Stoick smiled.

"Sounds like trouble to me" Hiccup muttered.

"Judging by the letter Fergus sent, they are. Just like the twins, or maybe more. And if you're thinking I'm gonna make you do stuff like giving a speech, making a toast and all that, no worries" Stoick grinned.

"Thank Thor" Hiccup sighed in relief.

"But I do have an important job for you" Stoick cut in before his son could celebrate.

"And that is...?" Hiccup trailed off.

"I want you to take care of the Princess, who is currently your age. I want you to show her all the dragons around here, introduce her personally to the academy and even show her around the place on Toothless. By what Fergus and Elinor have said in the letter, she's grown to be quite feisty and fierce" Stoick said. **(A/N:** **yeah,** **I** **know!** **Hiccup** **is** **eighteen** **in** **Rtte** **and** **Merida** **is** **actually** **sixteen** **but** **meh,** **just think** **that** **this** **is** **two** **years** **after** **t he incident** **at** **Dunbroch)**

Hiccup's eyes widened yet again.

"Y-you can't be serious! Me?! All alone with her? Please tell me you're joking dad!" Hiccup panicked.

"Son, I know very well how close you two used to be. Why, I would even say that you practically fell in love with her even though you two were pretty young. I know that you want to talk to her, be close with her and maybe even start a relationship with her but I really want the two of you to be close again and not have awkward conversations" Stoick concluded.

"Um, seriously dad? You were right about us being best friends when she last visited us and maybe even about the part of me liking her but that was in the past and I dont want a relationship or anything! I- I dont even know her that much! A-And-" he stuttered.

"And your stuttering has clearly proved that you're just lying. Just get on with it son." Stoick grinned before leaving the house.

"What the hell dad?" Hiccup muttered. He looked down when Toothless nudged his hand in confusion.

"I'll tell you soon bud. Right now we have a long meeting with the gang" Hiccup said before mounting Toothless and taking off in the air.

...

"Hiccup there better be a good explanation for why you've gathered all of us here" Snotlout yelled as he entered the Great Hall, where Hiccup had told the gang to meet him.

"Yeah, I was feeding Chicken when all of a sudden, Fishlegs barges in, scares poor Chicken and orders Ruff and me to be at the Hall for an urgent meeting" Tuffnut groaned.

"Well, now that everyone is here, I guess I have to say the whole thing. You guys remember the Scottish Princess who came here to Berk with her parents back when we were something like ten or twelve?" Hiccup asked.

"The chic with the red hair and blue eyes who was your only friend before you met Toothless back when we were bullying you?" Snotlout snorted.

"Uh yes. Well she's coming with her family tomorrow-"

"Tomorrow?!" Fishlegs and Astrid yelled.

"-Yes. Apparently, my father got a letter from them a month or two ago and he tells me just today. Well anyways, by orders of the Chief, we are gonna hang out with her after she settles in, show her our academy, show her around the place and just have her occupied or something" Hiccup informed.

"Well, more than us, you're gonna be hanging out with her a lot, considering she was your friend after all" Fishlegs pointed out, which brought an unnoticeable frown on Astrid's face.

"I guess. I'm really nervous to be honest. I'm seeing her after eight years or something. She kept up her promise after all" Hiccup laughed nervously.

"Um, guys? Shouldn't we be preparing some grand show for them instead of standing around, doing nothing? I mean, they're travelling all the way from the other side of the world! We should show them our respect and prepare a great show or something!" Astrid said.

"She's right, as always" Snotlout winked at her which made her groan and roll her eyes.

"Astrid's right. We should prepare something so grand that they won't regret coming here!" Fishlegs said.

"Fine then. Let's go outside and practice something. And then get dad's approval" Hiccup nodded and the riders ran out to the academy with their dragons right by their side.

...

Hiccup laid down on his bed as exhaustion took over him. Toothless went to his slab and burnt it before he slept on it, leaving his rider to his thoughts.

Hiccup was anxious. Completely. Sure, he wanted to meet his first friend but at the same time, he was anxious because he knew nothing about her right now. Was she still the same fierce and caring girl he had met when he was ten? Or had she turned into another version of the old deranged Dagur?

And there's this other thing of his father shipping her and him. He wouldn't hesitate to date her, he still has a really tiny crush on his first friend to be honest but then it would mean that he never really liked Astrid. And that would mean he never fell in love with her and that he never was in love with her for the past three and a half years. And his father was partly right, even though Hiccup was really young, he knew he had this _connexion_ with the fiery princess which he didn't have with anyone else.

Hiccup shook his head, scolding himself that he's just being ridiculous. And thats when he heard voices downstairs.

"Hiccup! Come down, Astrid's here!" His father yelled and before Hiccup could shout a reply, he heard Astrid saying something.

"Oh no Chief, I actually came here to talk with you" she smiled nervously.

"Okay..." Hiccup trailed off but he sat on the stairs and saw the two talk.

"So what's the matter Astrid?" Stoick asked.

"Oh, its just that Heather and Dagur had sent a Terror mail that they would like to come and visit us and that they would like to meet King Fergus so that Berserker island could also be alliances with the great kingdom of Dunbroch. So I just wanted to ask your permission if they could come" Astrid informed.

"Wait how do they know that King Fergus is coming here? I was told just today" Hiccup asked from behind the two.

"Heather and I usually send mails to each other, just to keep in touch. And right before practice, I got another mail from her, to which I replied immediately, even telling her about the Royal Family's arrival. And I just got another mail that they would like to visit and I came to ask the Chief immediately" she replied to him, smiling a bit at the thought of her best friend. And Hiccup couldn't help but smile back.

"Of course they can! Do you think they'll be here before tomorrow morning so that I can introduce them to the King and Queen?" Stoick asked.

"Even if you send a Terror mail right now, they would probably get it at one in the morning and they'll have preparations and stuff so I doubt it" Hiccup piped in.

"And that's why I'm going there myself, right now" Astrid informed.

"What? Astrid no! Its already dark out there and-"

"Hiccup I want to, okay? I'm just gonna be there in no time, help Heather and Dagur pack their bags and then be here by morning or something" Astrid pointed out.

"Travel all night?! Astrid you're gonna tire yourself out!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"He's right lass. Maybe you can send a mail, let them come by tomorrow afternoon at the least and then I can introduce them to the King later on" Stoick agreed with his son.

"And let them miss the arrival? No way! And dont worry Hiccup, I'm not gonna mess up the greeting tomorrow by staying up all night." Astrid said. Hiccup felt a pang of hurt in his heart at her statement.

 _it's not the greeting I'm worried about..._

"And if we just explain this to Heather and Dagur, they may even help us with the formations and stuff! I can even give them a tiny practice while flying back here!" Astrid exclaimed happily.

"But-" Hiccup and Stoick were cut off by her.

"Cmon guys. Just let me go! You dont have to be so worried! I'll be perfectly fine!" She argued. Stoick sighed and nodded but Hiccup seemed reluctant.

"At least let me come with you" Hiccup said, stepping forward.

"Hiccup..." Astrid whined like a four-year-old kid who wasn't allowed to touch a dragon by her father.

"No Astrid. I'm coming with you. Just let me get Toothless-"

"Hiccup no. Toothless is already tired and exhausted from practice and I know you are too. Just go back to your room. Its not like Ryker is out there, planning something" she grinned before running off to her house to get Stormfly before he could argue any further.

Hiccup raced to his room and looked out of the window and watched her fly off until Astrid and Stormfly were completely out of sight. He sighed once again before laying down. He really wanted to be awake all night, waiting for her to come back so that he knew she was safe but his tiredness took the best of him and he soon fell asleep.

...

"Heather!"Astrid's excited voice rang through the dull house of the Chief of the Berserker tribe.

"She's here!" An equally excited female voice yelled from inside the building as Astrid mounted off her dragon.

"You're here!" Heather laughed as the two ran to each other and hugged.

"Hey there Astrid!" A male voice broke through the silence.

"Hey Dagur! So, you guys ready?!" She grinned.

"Of course we are! Now what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Heather exclaimed and the three quickly got on their dragons.

"So, you guys wanna be part of our presentation?" Astrid asked and the three had a quick practice after Astrid explained Hiccup's plan to them.

...

"Soooooo.. Tell us more about the Royal family of Dunbroch" Heather asked from next to Astrid.

"I dont know much actually. First, the King... He's a really jolly man. He knows how to make jokes and spends time with everyone and is fierce at the same time. The Queen, elegant and graceful like any other typical queen. And then the triplets, I dont know much of them as the queen was still pregnant when she came here last time. But apparently, they're troublemakers just like the twins. Then there's the Princess who's of our age. She didn't talk much the last time she visited as she spent all her time with Hiccup" Astrid informed.

"With Hiccup you say?" Dagur asked slyly.

"Yeah. She was his first friend. You, of all people, sure do remember that we used to bully him, right? Back when he was just ten?" Astrid asked Dagur.

"You guys bullied him?" Heather asked.

"Me? Not exactly. I lost my temper only back at the arena when we used to get classes to kill dragons. But the gang? Definitely. Oh, and dont even get me started on your brother" Astrid groaned.

"Hey! I apologized to him, okay?!" Dagur yelled.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say Grumpy Pants!" Astrid yelled back.

"Hey-!"

"Which reminds me, its the Chief's order that the dragon riders should spend time with-"

"Guys, how about we concentrate on the fact that we've almost reached Berk?!" Heather yelled, interrupting both of them.

"And it's still very dark! So I guess we can get some sleep!" Astrid said happily.

"Sure but where are we gonna sleep? Heather can sleep with you but I can't!" Dagur whined.

"Oh shut it Grumpy, all three of us can sleep at my place. You'll just have to sleep on the couch. The dragons can rest in the stables with Stormfly" Astrid said to which the two nodded. The three dragons lowered to the ground in front of the Hofferson's house. The riders left their dragons in the stables right next to Astrid's house and went in.

"So I sleep here in the living room while you sleep in your room? What if your parents wake up and freak out when they see a guy sleeping on their couch?" Dagur asked.

"Wow, you actually thought of something clever" Heather grinned.

"Hey! Why do you two love teasing me?!" Dagur groaned.

"'Cause you're fun so mess with. And dont worry, my parents know you two are coming and who on Berk hasn't seen Dagur the Deranged?!" Astrid grinned before the two girls headed to the former's room.

...

"Hey Heather?" Astrid called out once the two were comfortable next to each other on the bed.

"Yeah?" Heather yawned and looked at her friend, who was staring at the ceiling in thought.

"Do you think Hiccup and the Princess will get into a relationship once she's here?" Astrid asked.

"Oh Astrid. I'm sure they won't. I mean, its Hiccup we're talking about! I dont think he'll just go up and kiss a girl whom he's not seen for eight years already! Its just jealousy getting you" Heather grinned.

 _Why_ _would_ _he_ _get_ _into_ _a_ _relationship_ _with_ _some_ _other_ _girl_ _when he clearly has something for_ _you!_ She thought.

"You know what, I'm not even gonna argue on the jealous part knowing I'm just gonna lose. But I really think he still likes the girl Heather. I mean, Fishlegs pointed out that since she is a close friend of Hiccup's, the two will be spending more time to which he turned red and started stuttering and he was so nervous too!" Astrid pointed out.

"Astrid I'm sure that Hiccup won't do anything like that. And if he does,-"

 _which I hope he doesn't_

"-I'm here for you and I'm sure the others will be too. Maybe I should talk about this to Fishlegs-"

"No Heather. You alone know how I feel about him, including Stormfly and myself. And its gonna stay like that" Astrid said stubbornly.

"Sure. Whatever makes you happy. Now go to sleep" Heather turned and closed her eyes.

"Goodnight Heather."

"Goodnight Astrid"


	2. My Biggest Mistake 2

"Fishlegs, stop Meatlug! She's eating all the boulders we use for the catapults! Ruff leave the poor sheep alone! Tuffnut why the hell are you trying to burn yourself!? Oh come on! Snotlout Jorgenson wake up and get your dragon under control!" Hiccup yelled at his friends.

The news that the Royal family of Dunbroch had spread around Berk faster than light that the whole island was busy with preparations. Vikings were cleaning their houses in a hurry, all of them were dressed to their best and even the dragons were sitting quietly.

But Hiccup on the other hand had to take care of his whole gang and lemme tell you, it was getting impossible. He had planned on a last practice before the Royals arrived and had told them to be at the arena at dawn. Everyone was here, except Astrid, Heather and Dagur. Which had him more worried whether she had come back home safely.

"Oh Thor, how did I even survive these past years with these guys around. I seriously need Astrid. Let's go bud" Hiccup groaned before he mounted Toothless and flew off to the Hofferson's house. He walked to the door and was about to knock when the door swung open and the Hofferson couple stood before him.

"Oh, Hiccup. Didn't see you there. Did you require our assistance?" Astrid's mother smiled and asked.

"Oh, I came in search of Astrid. Is she in there?" He asked politely.

"Oh yes. Go right in son. But make sure to visit the living room" Mr Hofferson grinned before the couple left the house. Hiccup just rose an eyebrow at his comment before shrugging and walked towards the living room.

But then he paused when he heard loud snores.

"Oookaay..." He said in confusion before stepping in the living room, only to be met with the sight of Dagur the Deranged sleeping peacefully on the couch.

"Guess I'll have to wake him up" Hiccup muttered before shaking the Berserker.

"Cmon Dagur, wake up!" He yelled. He heard some weird noises and looked at the window, only to see Toothless laughing at his plight. He just turned back to the sleeping Chief of the Berserker tribe before clearing his throat.

"BROTHER!" he yelled as loud as he could, which successfully woke the guy up. The red-head looked around and blinked before looking at the frowning Haddock right before him.

"Brother! How are you?!" Dagur crushed the guy in a tight hug before clapping him on the back.

"I will be fine if you leave me without breaking my bones" Hiccup groaned sarcastically which made the Chief laugh.

"Your sense of humour has really grown Brother!" He laughed.

"I-I- that wasn't even funny!" Hiccup muttered.

"Yeah yeah whatever" Dagur grinned.

"Where's Astrid?" Hic asked.

"She's up in the room with Heather. Still sleeping I guess. Lemme just freshen up and then we can wake them up" the Berserker said before heading to the bathroom. He was back quickly and the two headed to the blonde viking's room.

Hiccup's eyes widened and he saw Dagur controlling his laughter when they entered Astrid's room. And there she was, facing the door and was hugged by Heather from behind as she hugged the pillow.

"Now isn't this an adorable sight?" Dagur cooed. Hiccup grinned before walking towards the bed.

"Astrid. Heather. Wake up" he said softly.

"Go away Dagur" Astrid moaned before she buried her face in the pillow. Hiccup's eyes widened as Dagur slapped his hand over his own mouth as he doubled over in laughter.

"Seriously? She forgets me and thinks I am you?" Hiccup rose an eyebrow. **(A/N: oooh, someone's getting jealous)**

"I've annoyed her so much. Obviously she thinks I'm the only one who is annoying enough to wake her up at this hour" Dagur grinned.

"Mhm" Hiccup had a sceptical expression on his face and he was feeling a bit angry for something. But he turned back to Astrid anyways.

"Oh come on girls wake up!" He groaned.

"Your technique isn't gonna work" Dagur crossed his arms.

"Well, let's see you try" Hiccup crossed his arms and stepped back. Dagur looked confident and he cleared his throat. He turned to the two sleeping females and grinned.

"AAAARRRGHAAAA" He yelled the Berserker Battlecry at the top of his lungs. And just then, the two girls jolted awake. The black haired one unconsciously yelled the cry herself and then came back to her senses, while the other groaned loudly.

"Oh good. You're awake. Well, get dressed. We'll be going soon" Dagur smiled like nothing happened and walked off, leaving a dumbstruck auburn haired adult in the room with the two girls.

"Hiccup? Wha- What are you doing here?" Astrid asked sleepily.

"Oh, I just came to check on you since you went out last night. And we're having a last practice right now so I came to call the three of you" Hiccup smiled. Astrid sleepily returned it, which just made her look more adorable. And of course Hiccup wouldn't say that out loud.

"We'll be down in a few minutes. You can go" Heather stretched and yawned. Hiccup nodded and left the room, heading for the Great Hall where he had left the gang.

...

The ships had already arrived and Hiccup's father was greeting the family. The riders couldn't see them clearly but they surely saw a large mass of orange. The riders were standing in their positions around Berk from where they would take off, showing their Great Presentation, but made sure they were out of sight.

Hiccup was in the highest point, holding a Spy Glass, waiting for the signal from Gobber. The other riders waited in their places, ready to take off and waiting for Hiccup to take off.

Hiccup concentrated his gaze on Gobber but then his eyes widened. A young woman of probably his age with wild red curls and beautiful blue eyes, marched proudly past Gobber, and stood next to a huge man. Hiccup's mouth went dry when he realised who the girl was.

 _Princess Merida of Dunbroch._

He felt his heart beat fast at the sight of his ex-best friend. He forgot about Gobber as he continued watching her as she laughed loudly at something his dad said. And that's when he realised that his dad was looking at something nervously. His eyebrows furrowed and he looked at the direction his father was seeing and saw Gobber frantically doing the signal.

Hiccup patted Toothless head and the dragon crouched, before shooting up to the skies, the other dragons flying to the centre of Berk from all the directions.

...

"Gobber, they're up! Do you think they've practiced something really good to impress the Royal family?" Stoick whispered to his friend.

"Its Hiccup we're talking about Stoick. Of course it'll be amazing!" Gobber grinned.

The Scottish family and the people of Berk watched in awe as the dragons shot up high in the air. The seven dragons met at one point in the sky from different directions before falling backwards like a flower's petal. Then the dragons were on track again as they flew to their designated spots. And that's when the dragons shot their special kind of fire at the spot they had met before.

In the middle of the fire-work was Stormfly's sparkling fire, surrounded by Windshear's blue fire, forming a beautiful blue flower with a yellow centre. And then the blue layer was surrounded by the red flames from Hookfang. And the red dragon was followed by Meatlug and Shattermaster who shot a huge ball of fire each. The balls met each other just above the flower and created and explosion in the sky. And the whole thing was shadowed by a huge circle of fire thanks to Barf and Belch. And then was the last blast by Toothless who shot a purple ring of fire which spread into the blue sky before the Night Fury and it's rider went through the middle (Stormfly's sparks), followed by the others in a line.

All the riders guided their dragon to go down to the earth as the line behind the Night Fury spread and the dragons descended in a perfect V-formation with Hiccup and Toothless in the main point, Astrid on his right, Heather on his left, Snotlout and Fishlegs right behind Astrid respectively and the same with the twins and Dagur behind Heather.

The seven dragons slowed down as they neared the island, coming in a line again with Hiccup in the middle, Astrid , Snotlout and Fishlegs on his right and Heather, the twins and Dagur on his left while they sat on their majestic dragons.

"There he is! The Pride of Berk!" Stoick grinned happily as the dragons finally touched the ground.

"Nice work lad!" Gobber cheered as everyone clapped loudly for the dragons and their riders, who quickly got off and gave an affectionate scratch to their dragons.

"That was indeed impressive! Way to go lad!" A voice boomed and the huge man from before stood next to his equally large friend, Stoick. And now that Hiccup could see the man much closer, he realised who it was.

"King Fergus!" Hiccup said as he bowed before the great king. And he was followed by the rest of the riders once they stood next to him in the same order.

"Aye, been a long time since I last saw ya Hiccup!" The man grinned before Hiccup was crushed in a hug for the second time in the day.

"Can't. Breathe" he struggled. The man finally let go and Hiccup fell backwards and into Astrid's arms.

"You okay?" She whispered as she helped him stand up.

"Yeah. Whew, why do people love to crush me?" He muttered which made her chuckle.

"Now get going!" She pushed him forward when the Queen stood next to her husband.

"You've really become better than the last time I saw you Hiccup" she said before stepping forward and stroking his cheek like any other mother would do, which widened Hiccup's eyes.

"Your mother would've been so proud of you" she whispered as tears surfaced in her eyes. Hiccup smiled sadly and bowed his head in respect. The queen smiled before stepping back and her three children stood next to the couple. The triplets next to the king and the princess next to her mother. Hiccup and Merida made eye contact and the two smiled at each other.

"We have some presents for the Royal family if you dont mind Chief" Fishlegs piped in.

"You kids may proceed" Stoick smiled.

"To the whole family, we have swords, bows and arrows made completely of Gronkle Iron, the best we have ever made." Fishlegs and Dagur stepped forward with a tray in their hands. Fishlegs' tray had three daggers and a huge sword for the triplets and the King while Dagur's had a silver bow and plenty of arrows and a elegant yet strong and slim sword for the Princess and the Queen.

The royal family took the weapons made for them and examined the weapons.

"Um, these swords look too weak. And they're too thin too" Elinor said uncertainly.

"These are made of Gronkle Iron, your Highness, the best iron in the whole world. You may even fight with these swords against a normal sword for proof." Fishlegs grinned proudly.

"I'm ready" Merida stepped forward with her own sword.

"Um, you might wanna take another sword if you dont want your favourite sword to be broken your Majesty" Fishlegs commented. Merida just rose an eyebrow and took one of the other swords she had brought.

"Let me do the honours" Dagur said and took his own sword which was obviously made from Gronkle Iron.

Merida yelled a battle cry before lunging towards him, her sword raised high up in the air. Dagur just stepped back and once she missed him, he quickly sliced her sword in half like cutting a vegetable. He smirked and put his sword back in its sheath and picked up the tray again as the whole family stared in shock at the sword.

"Okay, I underestimated it" Elinor whispered.

"Well, now Gobber. Introductions are important, ya know" Stoick woke them from the shock, a proud grin plastered on his face. The riders stood in their places as they stepped forward when their names were called.

"Of course. Well, your majesties, meet the Riders and Defenders of Berk. You have Snotlout Jorgenson, Stoick's nephew, rider of the Monstrous Nightmare named Hookfang, which used to be one of the most dangerous dragons. The guy is most probably even the strongest of his age" Gobber began.

"Pleasure to meet you, your Majesties" Snotlout fell on one knee and bowed his head in respect, his dragon following his lead after setting itself on fire.

"And then we have Fishlegs Ingerman, the keeper and writer of the Book of Dragons. He is the kid with most dragon knowledge in the whole of the Archipelago and tends to solve everything by logic. And his dragon is the Gronkle called Meatlug, who's lava made the iron for your weapons"

"Its such an honour to meet you, your Majesties" Fishlegs fell on his knee and bowed his head as Meatlug bowed her head.

"And next, are the twins. Ruffnut Thorston, the girl, and Tuffnut Thorston, the boy. Huge pranksters, easily get out of control and basically, best at destroying things and annoying people. But they do have amazing fighting skills and they've solved many problems without even knowing that they've helped. And they ride the Hideous Zippleback, the dragon with two heads. One leaves out the Zippleback gas and the other gives the sparks to burn the gas. The gas head goes by the name Barf whose rider is the girl while the other is called Belch who is the boy's dragon"

"We are so happy to finally meet y'all, your Majesties" the two dramatically fell on both knees and bowed their heads and yeah, the dragons followed them.

"Next is Astrid Hofferson, one of the best fighters of Berk. Responsible, stealthy, strong, agile, quick and also has a short temper. She is Hiccup's second in command in the group and takes her duties very seriously. And might I add, also quite the heartthrob of the Archipelago, though she doesn't do anything on that matter *winks playfully*. And with her is the striking Deadly Nadder, the most beautiful kind of dragons and also the toughest ones. And her dragon goes by the name Stormfly, and she lives up to her name. She is also the second fastest in the group and maybe in whole of Berk"

"I'm immensely honoured to be in your presence, your Highnesses" Astrid bowed her head and fell on her knee while while Stormfly spread her wings, folded one of her hind limbs while the other leg's knee touched the ground and bowed her head deeply.

"And now finally, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III! Heir to the throne of Berk, first person to tame a dragon, befriend it, ride it and fight along with it. He fought the Red Death, the Queen of the Dragon's Nest, defeated it along with his dragon and united the dragons with the vikings. Hiccup is the leader of the Dragon Riders, planner of the Dragon's Edge and is also the defeater of Viggo Grimborn, the most dangerous Dragon Hunter in the whole of the Archipelago and also the one who brought peace between the Outcast leader Alvin the Treacherous and with The Berserker tribe.

"Hiccup is also the rider of the Night Fury, Toothless, most probably the last one of his kind. And Night Furies are the dragons that are said to be the most intelligent ones out there, which makes him stand out from the others. And together, the two of them are the fastest, the wisest, the kindest and all together, the best. The two have been flying around with the group to all our allies, helping them and saving their lives. And if all of us are alive, its all thanks to the two of them." Gobber finished with a smile as whole of Berk cheered loudly while the said guy blushed a little as he fell on one knee and bowed his head.

"Wow, you've really changed, eh lad?" Merida smirked and Hiccup just gave her an awkward smile.

"And these two, your Majesties, are Dagur the Deranged, Chief of the Berserker tribe and Heather, his sister. The former used to be a deadly villain but has become our ally and the two have helped us with our battles and have come of great help! They're the riders of Shattermaster, the Greek Gronkle and Windshear, a Razorwhip whose tail can cut through all most anything and whose fire can burn off the flesh of a human who's standing a hundred feet away"

"Pleasure to meet you, your Majesties" the two fell on their knee and bowed their head.

"Pleasure to meet you all too." Elinor smiled.

"And now, everyone to the Great Hall! Let's end this arrival with a great Lunch!" Stoick yelled.

...

"So, how did Berk change from 'we will kill dragons till the end of our lives' to 'we will protect dragons till the end of our lives'"? Merida asked once everyone had started eating.

"Oh, that would be my son's doing" Stoick munched on his chicken.

"Oh really?" Merida looked at the auburn haired male next to her.

Everyone from Berk were seated in the Great Hall and the Royals along with the Chief's family i.e. Stoick, Hiccup, Spitelout, Snotlout, Mrs Jorgenson and Gobber, sat in the middle of the Hall. The riders and the Berserkers sat a few tables away from them and the other vikings sat in the other tables.

"Yeah, the tale goes like..." And Gobber explained the whole thing to the family.

 _~Meanwhile~_

"And he's ignoring us already" Tuffnut groaned and fed a fish to Belch.

"Oh quit the groaning and whining guys, he's just doing his duty as the Chief's son. Speaking of the Chief, shouldn't you two *points at Dagur and Heather* be there with them and not with us?" Astrid asked.

"We'd rather sit here than with a bunch of elders talking about what they talk about" Dagur bit the flesh from the yak-meat before him.

"And look at Snotlout, trying so desperately to get the princess's attention while Hiccup is talking with her" Fishlegs grinned.

The six of them turned to the table where the Royals sat and saw Snotlout raising his arms and showing his biceps and kissing them while Merida didn't even look at him as she happily chatted with an equally happy Hiccup. The gang laughed as the chicken piece in Snotlout's raised arm slipped and fell on his head and then slid down his face.

"That was hilarious!" Ruffnut clutched her stomach.

"Indeed" Heather wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and leaned on Astrid who was still laughing next to her as the blonde and Dagur, who sat on Astrid's other side, slapped the table while laughing.

"Did you see the expression on his face?!" Astrid asked excitedly and the others nodded as they laughed loudly, attracting quiet some attention. Including that of the Royals and the Chief's family.

"Hey, you guys keep everyone's attention on you. We have something important to do" the female twin said before Tuff and Ruff sneaked away from the table and appeared behind Snotlout. But nobody in their table heard her as they were busy laughing their heads off.

"Aaaahh!" Snotlout yelled all of a sudden. The gang paused and saw him trying rubbing his tongue rapidly, while the twins returned and whistled innocently.

"Ho'h, ho'h, ho'h!" He screamed as he rubbed his tongue with his handkerchief. And thats when everyone saw that the small yak pieces where literally on fire.

"Did you- did you guys just set his food on fire?!" Astrid exclaimed and turned towards the twins, who grinned evilly. Tuffnut held out a bottle of hot oil and Ruffnut held out a small matchstick.

They burst out laughing again but this time, everyone in the Hall had witnessed the scene. Snotlout got up angrily and ran to the twins but then he tripped and fell face-first on the ground. And that's when people saw the rope tied to his leg and to the table. And that increased the laughter. Snotlout, who was red in embarrassment turned to the second set of culprits, who sat silently next to the queen, playing the innocent little triplets they are.

...

"Oh my goodness, I thought I'm gonna be bored once I'm here but it's the straight opposite!" Merida wiped her eyes as she laughed.

"Oh this is just the beginning" Hiccup grinned before he turned his attention to Snotlout, who was at the table where the riders were sitting. He laughed one again when Tuffnut dropped the bottle on Snotlout's leg and said a bored 'Woops' as Snotlout hopped around the table on one leg, holding his other in his hand. He looked at the others at the table and saw Heather and Fishlegs getting up to get more food for the others, leaving Astrid and Dagur rolling with laughter.

But then his laughter died down when he saw Snotlout take Heather's place next to Astrid and when Barf accidentally bumped into him, knocking him sideways and on Astrid's lap. Hiccup watched how Snotlout's painful expression turned to a flirtatious one and the Night Fury Rider frowned when he saw Dagur wrap an arm around her shoulders as he bent and said something to Snotlout whose head was still on Astrid's lap. Both Astrid and Dagur were smirking before the two stood up, sending Snotlout to the ground. The two shared a High-Five as people wolf-whistled around them.

Hiccup turned back to his food and stared down at it. For some reason, he just didn't feel like looking back at them.

"Wow, your friends are amazing!" Mer laughed as everyone in the Hall stopped laughing.

"Yeah, they are" Hiccup said, glancing at Astrid who was laughing with Heather, Dagur and Fishlegs.

"Why are you frowning? Is everything alright?" Merida asked, looking at the laughing group.

"What? No, of course not!" Hiccup said. He glanced back at her and he started sulking once she saw Astrid casually place her elbow on Tuffnut's shoulder as she said something to Ruffnut and Tuffnut cut her off by saying something dramatically.

"Wait a second, are you-" Merida smirked.

"No I'm not jealous" Hiccup looked down at the table.

"Oh really? I was just gonna say angry" she grinned slyly. Hiccup's eyes widened and he turned red and he refused to look in her eyes.

"So you are! Who is it? The blonde twin? The black haired girl with the silver dragon? The beautiful blonde with the beautiful dragon, Astrid? Who!?" She demanded.

"No one!" He hissed.

"Talk Haddock!" Merida ordered.

"No!"

"Fine! So I guess it isn't Astrid 'cause her boyfriend's currently flirting with her" Merida smirked.

"What?!" Hiccup yelled before turning to the group's table, only to see her throw Snotlout on the ground.

"Snotlout isn't her boyfriend! She deserves much better than my flirty cousin" Hiccup scoffed.

"Mhm" Merida smirked as she played with her food.

...

"Wow, now that's a lunch I'm never gonna forget!" Fergus yelled as he settled down next to Stoick. The Royal family, Stoick and Hiccup were at a hillside that evening, just sitting and talking. Well more like, Hiccup and Merida caught up for the years they missed, the adults talking about their own problems and the triplets were just roaming around while Toothless just laid down next to Hiccup.

"Indeed. The teens were quiet entertaining" Elinor smiled.

"So, you guys done? I really want to meet the riders at the Academy and have a little practice with the weapons" Merida whined.

"If you really want to go so badly, how about Hiccup and you ride on Toothless right now?" Stoick suggested.

"I dont know if Toothless would agree to have me on his back..." Merida trailed of uncertainly.

"Of course he would! He loves to meet new people! Dont you bud?" Hiccup grinned as the dragon nodded before snuggling next to Merida.

"Aw, what a cutie! Let's go now, shall we?" Merida asked excitedly.

"Sure" Hiccup sat on Toothless, helped Merida and then took off into the air.

"Woah!" She yelled as she quickly wrapped his arms around his waist. Hiccup's eyes widened before a light blush engulfed his cheeks but then he felt a tug at his heart, like this felt wrong.

"Y-yeah" he muttered before switching the tail fin's direction to the skies instead of the direction to the academy.

Toothless grumbled, not sure if this idea was good. When it was Astrid's first time riding him, he felt this strong urge to show her the beauty of the skies. But with Merida, Toothless just felt like going back to the academy, which was what Hiccup told at first.

And reluctantly, Toothless flew above the clouds to a whole new world, which just reminded him of the first time Hiccup brought Astrid.

"Its- its beautiful!" Merida whispered which made Hiccup grin. But then suddenly, he changed the position of the tail which had them spinning and plummeting to the ocean.

"Whoa! Wait, no, no, no!" She yelled when she saw that they were nearing the water. Hiccup smirked before abruptly pulling Toothless up as they flew just above the water.

"Cocky bastard" Merida slapped the back of his head which had him protesting as they reached the academy.

...

"Oh look who finally decided to show up!" Tuffnut yelled. The other five riders and the Berserkers looked up and saw a black dragon land by the entrance but then their eyebrows furrowed when they saw Merida's arms around a grinning Hiccup's waist.

"Hey guys!" Hiccup waved enthusiastically as Merida got off and he followed her.

"Hey. We didn't know the Princess was joining us today" Heather said uncertainly.

"Oh, Hiccup's dad suggested that I could come here, just to look at the dragons and get to know you guys. That is, if you're okay with it." Merida stepped forward.

"Or you're just making excuses when in reality, you just couldn't resist staying away from this" Snotlout gestured to himself with a smirk plastered on his face, which just earned him a punch- well, not exactly one, more like two punches in the face from a certain blonde Berkian and a certain dark-haired Berserker, who then bumped their wrists as their form of a high-five.

"what he means is, welcome to Berk Dragon Academy, run by the Dragon Riders of Berk and also the A Team. Speaking of the A Team, here they are" Astrid grinned as the four adults led by the teen entered on their dragons.

"Did you guys finish patrol or did you just come here because you wanted to show your dragons?" Astrid rose and eyebrow.

"Astrid, Astrid, you know I'd never let you down. We finished patrol as smooth as your hair is and came here as fast as we could" Gustav grinned, grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss it, but instead got punched in the face, much like his former idol Snotlout.

"Does anyone in here stop flirting?!" Astrid asked frustrated.

"Geez, I don't know M'lady, I can help you check" Hiccup teased her, knowing how much she hates when people flirt with her, but wisely shut his mouth when he saw her glare at him.

"Wow, Gobber wasn't exaggerating when he said Astrid was the heartthrob" Merida whispered to Hiccup with a knowing smile which made him blush a little and scratch his head nervously.

"Um, Hiccup? Are you gonna introduce them to the Princess or are you just gonna stand there and blush?" Fishlegs asked unsurely as he glanced at Heather, who looked ready to explode at how Merida and Hiccup were behaving with each other.

"Please guys, just call me Merida or Mer, it makes me feel old when you keep addressing me by 'Princess'" Merida said.

"Well anyways, Merida, this is the Auxiliary team also known as A Team. This is Gustav Larson, the leader appointed by Astrid, and these are Spitelout Jorgenson, Gothi, Bucket and Mulch, the rest of the team" HIccup introduced.

"So A in A Team is for Auxiliary? And why did Astrid choose the leader?" Merida asked curiously, in the good way though.

"A is for Auxiliary and for Astrid. And Astrid got to choose the leader as she is the one who trained them with their dragons." Hiccup explained. Merida replied with an 'Oh' before turning back to the dragons.

"And aren't you gonna introduce them?" she asked.

"That will be done by the riders themselves" Hiccup said.

After the introductions, Merida found herself wanting to talk to someone while Hiccup spoke with Gustav about their patrols.

"So," a voice brought Merida back from her thoughts, "we heard that you love to battle. You wanna have a friendly duel?" Astrid smirked as she held her axe.

"I was wondering when I'm gonna have some fun" Merida smirked and brought her sword out. The two quickly got into a fighting stance and after yelling a battle cry, they lunged at each other.

The sound of metal clashing attracted everyone's attention as the two young women fought. The A Team and the Riders started chanting and encouraging them to fight. While the two girls fought ferociously, but still carefully as they didn't want anyone to get injured but still narrowly missing the other. Both of them seemed almost same in strength and speed as the fight went on and on. They fought so hard for so long that the audience started to get fed up. But then Astrid used her secret move and pinned the Scottish princess to the floor as the latter's sword flew into Astrid's hands.

"Woah! That was one heck of a contest! I've never fought like that my whole life!" Merida panted as her face lighted up with a tired smile as Astrid held out her hand, which the princess gratefully took.

"Yeah. I admit it, I can fight like that only with Heather as none of the others are ready to fight with me but whoo, that was awesome!" Astrid grinned as the two women smirked and high-fived.

"But I'm still not tired! I want more!" Astrid whined, resting her axe on her shoulder.

"How about you fight with Hiccup?" Merida suggested brightly.

"W-what? Oh no, never, nada, not doing it" Hiccup held his hands up in surrender and backed up.

"And why not? Are you scared?" Merida teased.

"oh yeah, very much" Hiccup gulped.

"Really? Wow, didn't know you would back off like that. I really expected that you would get offended and then agree to fight her" Merida admitted, looking surprised.

"Oh no, its Astrid Hofferson we're talking about. She could just beat me into a pulp without sweating even a single drop" Hiccup laughed humourlessly.

"Hey! I'd never do that!" she punched him on the shoulder.

"Ow! What is it with you and violence?!" Hiccup winced.

"As I've said Fishlegs before, its just communication" Astrid shrugged.

"Yeah, right" Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"So anyone else wanna battle the great Astrid Hofferson?" Merida grinned.

"Oh lets see what you've got, babe" Snotlout cracked his knuckles and stepped forward, just to be spun around and thrown to a wall.

"I am no one's babe" Astrid hissed.

"So, what about you Gustav? Back in the hall I heard you boasting about your strength to some younger girls" Merida smirked. The sixteen-year-old gulped visibly before puffing his chest out.

"For your own safety, I'll go easy on you baby" Gustav grinned as he ran back to his dragon to bring his sword.

"Watch this" Astrid whispered to Merida, Ruffnut and Heather before placing a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. Gustav returned with a smirk on his face and a sword in his hands but then every male's jaw dropped, including Gustav's, as Astrid walked to him, swinging her hips seductively which froze the poor teen in his place. His eyes became half-lidded like Astrid's as she neared him and ran a finger down his chest which made him shiver, literally.

"Oooh, it seems to be working" Merida whispered.

"Wait, from when did Astrid start liking Gustav?" Ruff whispered to her brother.

"Yeah, didn't she just punch him minutes ago?" Tuff whispered back. But no one, except Heather, noticed two jealous men whose mouths were hanging and their eyes were twitching in anger.

But then everyone cringed when the heard the loud metal sound caused by Astrid's axe hitting Gustav's helmet, hard. The poor boy's vision became hazy as he moved around like a drunk person before collapsing to the ground, his dragon looking at him in concern.

"So I guess its just you and me, bestie" Heather smirked, quickly getting into a fighting stance.

"Bring it on, sister!" Astrid yelled before the two ran to each other. Heather fought skillfully with her double-axe but Astrid made up for it with her speed and her single-axe. The two fought so much that the others got bored.

"Girls, girls, we all know that your fight always end up in a tie so please, enough already!" Fishlegs groaned. The two women looked at each other for a good one minute before shrugging and putting their weapons away.

"Hey Astrid, you don't mind if I practice everyday with you, do you?" Merida asked nervously.

"Of course not your Highness. Why, I should say that I'd be honoured" Astrid grinned as the two walked side-by-side towards Stormfly while Heather went to get her satchel.

"Astrid what did I say about the titles!" Merida groaned.

"what? I'm just showing respect to the people who are higher than me" Astrid replied.

"No one in this world is higher or lower than anyone else. Just 'cause I'm the King's daughter doesn't make you or me any different" Merida deadpanned.

"Sure, whatever you say" Astrid rolled her eyes but in a good way.

"Hey girls, wait up!" Heather yelled from behind them. The two girls halted as the Berserker caught up with them. The three girls chatted for some time before Stormfly and Windshear started whining for food and decided to leave when Hiccup announced that its time to close the academy.

"See ya tomorrow at dawn Mer" Astrid waved before running off to Stormfly.

"woah, now I get it why you love her so much" Merida whispered to Hiccup, who instantly blushed.

"W-what?! How many times should I say you, I don't like Astrid Hofferson! We're just friends" Hiccup groaned and got on Toothless.

"Sure, keep telling that to yourself and one day, that last sentence is gonna kill you" she rolled her eyes and quickly got on the Night Fury. Hiccup sighed and shook his head, but found himself thinking about it when he saw Astrid wave goodbye to him, to which he responded with a small wave. He shook his head when too many thoughts invaded his head and quickly took off int the air with Toothless.

...

"So we're gonna be staying here?" Merida rose an eyebrow, looking at the recently built huge building with three bedrooms, a comfy living room and the other necessary rooms.

"Yup. The room with the biggest bed is for your parents, who are already inside, the second room with another huge bed is for your brothers and the last room with a normal bed is for you since only you get a single bedroom" Stoick informed.

"Well, okay" Merida said before marching to the door. She opened it stepped in and looked back at the others.

"Goodnight Hic, goodnight chief, See ya at breakfast" she said before starting to close the door.

"Merida?" Hiccup suddenly called out. She paused and looked at him.

"Its good to finally have you back for a second time" Hiccup smiled as his father placed his huge arm on his shoulder, the buff man having a smile on his face too. Merida blinked for a second before smiling back.

"Its good to be here too" she grinned before closing the door as the two men retreated back to their homes.

...

Astrid knew she shouldn't be awake at this hour in the night. It had not been long since they left the academy but for some reason, she couldn't sleep so decided that she could just take a nightly walk around the island. She had wanted to go with Stormfly but seeing the dragon sleeping peacefully after a long day had brought a smile to her face as she had shook her head and walked away. Heather offered to come with her but the blonde could see that she was tired so she just forced her to bed.

Astrid took in the peaceful scene before her as she walked around. But then her eyebrows furrowed when she saw the lights still on at the Forge.

 _Maybe Gobber forgot to put off the lights again._

She thought as she made her way to put them off, knowing how pissed off the old man could get at himself. But then she paused when she heard a voice from inside.

Scratch that, she heard _three_ voices in the Forge.

Astrid quietly moved and hid next to a window, from where she could hear the conversation. She soon recognised the voices to be Gobber's, Stoick's and King Fergus's. She contemplated that she shouldn't be here and that its not her business what the three men were talking about, but she stayed anyway. She even wondered how the three huge men could even fit into that small workplace.

" _...I know it's just been a day since they met.._ " Stoick's hushed voice whispered, but of course, the man's normal voice was so loud that even his whisper was heard very loudly and clearly, ".. _but I'm telling you, the two are deeply in love with each other!_ " He whispered excitedly.

 _Who are they even talking about?_ Astrid thought.

" _But seriously Stoick, you need to rethink that. I'm sure that the lad has something going on for the Astrid lass_ " Gobber retorted.

" _Oh come on Gobber! I know about my son! He is in love with Merida! I can feel it... in my belly!_ " Stoick replied.

 _Why the hell are they even talking about this?!_ Astrid yelled in her head.

" _Stoick, I know better than to make our own decisions. Leave their future in their hands!They've grownup after all! I learnt my lesson pretty well two years ago when Elinor brought three suitors from around the kingdom to fight for Merida's hand_ " Fergus said wisely.

" _Whatever you guys. But mark my words,one day or another, Hiccup IS is going to confess and the lucky lady WILL be Merida!_ " Stoick said confidently.

 _Yeah, I think so too..._ Astrid thought sadly.

" _Remember the last time you told me to mark your words?_ "Gobber asked sceptically.

" _Hey! It's not my fault that we couldn't find the Dragon's nest!You know that only dragons can find it and not us! And that was three years ago!_ " Stoick complained.

" _And YOU know that its the heart which finds love and not us! It just happens when it happens! Seriously Stoick, I thought you knew about love than any of us!_ " Fergus remarked.

" _I do! And that's why I'm saying that Merida is going to be Hiccup's future girlfriend!_ " Stoick announced proudly.

 _Yeah, you're probably right._ Astrid thought sadly. Not able to hear any of this anymore, Astrid ran away and went to bed. But little did she know that the conversation didn't end there.

"No, I'm sure that Hiccup loves Astrid!" Gobber said.

"Is that a challenge old man?" Stoick grinned.

"If I'm an old man, what about you?! And yes, that's a challenge. Let's see who the lad really falls for" the two shook their hands.

"I'm siding on Gobber for this" the king muttered.

"Just watch, when the Hiccup and Merida announce their relationship, you guys will be eating mud!" Stoick said loudly as the three men got ready to get back to their houses.

"We'll see about that" Gobber and Fergus said before the three parted ways.


	3. My Biggest Mistake 3

It had been two weeks since the Royal family had arrived and the weeks had been...interesting. Astrid sighed in dejection once again when she spotted a black dragon and two adults on a cliffside, sitting awfully close to each other.

And that's how it has been for the last two weeks. Hiccup and Merida would wake up early, go for a morning ride together, and then spend the rest of the day together. There were some times when Hiccup had to attend meetings with Dagur, Stoick, the king and the queen, and at those times, Merida would spend her time with Astrid and the other riders. But most of the time when she's with the gang, its Merida and Astrid duelling with Astrid winning every time. Astrid taught her a few tips and Merida helped Astrid with her archery. Merida had rode the other dragons a few times but Astrid's mood is always down and she places a fake smile on her face every time the princess is with them because Merida kept talking about the things she saw with Hiccup and how much he's changed, completely unaware that she was actually breaking the blonde viking's heart.

And then there's Hiccup. Eversince the first duel at the academy, Hiccup and Astrid never spoke. She's tried to speak with him many times but it all goes in vain as Hiccup's always busy with his father, Toothless and mostly, Merida. He always has this smile on his face when he's with Merida and after four or five days of trying to talk to him, Astrid gave up, feeling that he is much happier with Merida than he ever was with herself. She would even find herself glancing at him sometimes but then Hiccup never seemed to even _look_ at her anymore. He stopped attending the academy after two days and Astrid, Heather and Fishlegs have been the ones looking after the academy, seeing to that the A Team does the patrols according to the schedule. And Astrid has been hanging out with the gang almost all the time that she noticed even the others, including Snotlout, were missing Hiccup.

But Toothless, unlike his rider, would sometimes sneak away from Hiccup and Merida and would visit Astrid and the others. He would usually sit next to Astrid when she would start petting him, before he starts to play with Stormfly and the other dragons. And when Astrid's feeding her dragon and Toothless shows up, she would talk with him and feed him some chicken as well. And Stormfly never minded that her food was being shared to another as she knew how much Toothless flew with Hiccup and Merida.

And Stoick seemed hell-bent on getting Merida and Hiccup together. He always sends them of to the different islands with some excuse. But it did nothing to deter Gobber's belief about Hiccup and Astrid. And the bald man could clearly see the moods of the gang, especially Astrid's, going down every single day. So much that the twins wouldn't speak all day and even refused to prank Gobber when Astrid tried to lift up their moods. And Snotlout had completely stopped flirting with anyone, and poor guy was irritated by his father, troubling him to get a move on with the princess.

Astrid would spend most of the time practicing alone or with Heather. After a week of their arrival, Dagur had to go back but insisted that Heather had to stay, at least for Astrid's sake. And Astrid had never felt more grateful for the Berserker siblings as she wouldn't have made through the days without Heather. She was able to get her mind off Hiccup when she's having some family time with her parents and Heather, who had taken up the role of her twin-sister. They would always have fun but some things they do would remind Astrid of Hiccup, as he had been her best friend for three and a half years now. But Heather would do something and it would lift Astrid's mood at least to some level.

And the rest of the Royal family had taken a liking to hang out with the teens as well. The queen was often found with Astrid and Heather, duelling with them but losing since she had not fought for a long time. Whereas the triplets hung out with the twins and Snotlout, going around the island, pranking people as well as dragons. But then they stopped messing with the dragons

"Earth to Astrid?" Heather shook her hand in front of Astrid's face, which successfully brought Astrid back to reality.

"Oh, sorry" Astrid apologized, looking away from the pair who were heading for the Great Hall.

"Thinking about him again?" Heather asked with a sad smile. The dark-haired Berserker had managed to convince the blonde female viking to admit to herself, and to Heather, that she is indeed in love with the chief's son.

"Yeah. And her" Astrid replied.

"What about her?" Heather questioned in confusion as the two entered the Great Hall for dinner.

"Its just that.. *sigh* I know I'm jealous and that I miss him, but I just can't hate her, you know. She fun, caring, great to hangout with, king, loud in the good way and gorgeous too. How can you hate someone who's so great and fun and loving at the same time? No doubt Hiccup likes her so much" Astrid sighed again.

"Astrid for the last time, Hiccup doesn't like Merida, okay? He's just missed her for so many years that he's spending time with her, that's it" Heather argued, more like telling herself though she knew the truth, at least what she thought was the truth.

"Yeah, so much that he forgot his other friends." Astrid scoffed.

The two quickly got their food and sat at their usual table where the Dragon Riders sat together. At first, they used to be noisy and playing pranks on others and teasing each other, but now, it was only silence, and Heather and Astrid trying their best to lift up the moods of the dragons as well as the other four riders. But they never succeeded. And as usual, Hiccup sat with the Royal family to stay with Merida.

"He's completely forgotten us, you know" Snotlout muttered.

"Huh?" the others raised their heads.

"I was at the hills with Hookfang and I overheard them. Merida was talking about her training with Astrid but Hiccup just sat there, staring and smiling at her. She asked him about when he first met Astrid and the thing he replies with is 'Who?'" he said angrily. Astrid's throat clenched and she felt tears rising but she gulped and kept control of herself.

"I'm sure he didn't hear my name properly and asked her to repeat it" Astrid said and placed a fake smile on her face.

"Astrid you can't keep lying to yourself to keep the truth away" Ruffnut said solemnly. Astrid opened her mouth to say something but closed it and looked down at her food.

"At least we have each other, right?" Astrid asked hopefully.

"Definitely" Tuffnut said and a smile lighted up their faces. The gang knew how much it hurts Astrid when Hiccup ignores them. Not because of her crush on him, no, no one except Astrid, Heather, Stormfly and Windshear knew about that. No, they knew that Astrid and Hiccup were best friends, they were so close that sometimes they would sneak off without the others knowing. But now, they finally realised that if Hiccup's not there, then they'll have to take things into their own hands.

"So anyone else looking forward for the Yearly Sleepover?" Fishlegs asked, hoping they would move from the depressing matters. And in case you guys didn't know, the gang had set a particular date after the Red Death's to celebrate and have a sleepover at the academy. It became a tradition and they've been having the sleepovers for the past three years. And the next day was the Yearly Sleepover for this year.

"Yup! I even stitched some clothes for Chicken to where since its her first sleepover!" And the original Tuffnut was back.

"Yeah, and they look horrible" Ruffnut smirked.

"Ouch! You wound me sister!" Tuffnut dramatically fell backwards and his helmet hit the ground with a loud clash.

"You mean like this?" Ruff asked and lifted the helmet and held it above his face before dropping it.

"Hey, that felt awesome. Do it again" he said. Ruff rose and eyebrow before shrugging and dropped it on his face again. The gang burst out laughing when they saw Tuffnut groan when he got up with a black eye. Astrid grinned and sipped her water as they continued fighting when she heard a familiar dragon growl behind her. She turned and smiled.

"Hey there bud" she petted Toothless who licked her cheek.

"Toothless...you know that doesn't wash out" she whined and tried wiping her cheek. She played with him for some time, fed him some yak-meat and then got up when it was late and dark outside.

"So shall we go home?" Astrid stood up.

"Sure" the other followed.

 _~Meanwhile~_

"You know Hiccup, you are seriously ignoring your friends" Merida said as they sat down together with their food in their hands.

"No I'm not. I just want to spend time with you as much as I could. You're not staying here forever you know?" HIccup chuckled.

"But your friends seem sad that you've completely stopped seeing them" she said in concern as she knew how they felt. Merida had hung out with others when she could and she could see it that they missed him. Yeah, sure, it felt good to talk with him and to spend time with him but she couldn't bear the thought that she's the one who's breaking their friendship and possibly stopping a beautiful couple from their relationship.

"I've not completely stopped seeing them! I do see them, like that time when..." he trailed off. Merida just raised an eyebrow and he sighed.

"Fine, I haven't spoke with them. But its not like they're taking it seriously!" he exclaimed. Merida just kept her sceptical gaze on him as she pointed at something with her thumb without looking at it. Hiccup turned and saw that she was pointing at the table where the gang sat.

The table was unusually quiet and they all looked sad and solemn. Hiccup's heart broke when he saw Astrid talk to them with an unmistakable fake smile on her face. He didn't even know that she could fake a smile as she's always showed him genuine ones. But then her expression faltered and she looked down before saying something. Tuffnut replied and everyone brightened up. Fishlegs asked something excitedly to which he got happy replies.

"You see that? You're not spending enough time with them Hiccup" Merida pointed out.

"So what do you reckon I do?" he asked.

"Hang out with them. I heard Fishlegs say something about some yearly sleepover tomorrow or something to Heather-"

"The Yearly sleepover? tomorrow? Its here?! Damn, how did I miss that?!" he hissed under his breath.

"What is it?" she asked.

"well, its _~insert long explanation~_ " he explained.

"Oh. Then you should totally go! Its your best chance to apologize to your friends Hiccup!" she encouraged. Hiccup looked at her with a thanking smile and nodded. The two then headed out, unaware of the others standing outside, talking with Stoick.

"Ah, there he is!" Stoick grinned.

"Um, hey dad. Hey guys" he said awkwardly. They looked surprised but said nothing else. Hiccup's heart started going crazy when Astrid looked down and then turned away.

"You guys be talking, I'll just- uh- head to my parents" Merida said before walking off, just a few steps ahead where her father was talking with Gobber.

"So tomorrow's the sleepover, isn't it?" Stoick asked. The gang nodded, not getting why he was talking about it.

"So the queen was wondering if you'd like to take Merida with you" he asked. Snotlout opened his mouth to angrily refuse but Astrid pressed her hand against his mouth.

"Of course, chief. We dont have any problem" she smiled.

"Great" the chief replied.

"So shall we plan for the sleepover?" Hiccup asked nervously, his eyes still glued on Astrid who refused to meet his eyes. Stoick noticed this and wrapped his arm around his son's shoulders.

"Son, how about we go? I'm sure Fishlegs will take care of the plan" he grinned and guided his son towards where the Royals stood.

"But- but-" Hiccup stuttered and looked back at them and his heart broke all over again when he saw Astrid walking away.

"No wait-" he fought against his father's grip but Astrid had already walked a few steps away with Heather. His father turned him around roughly which made Hiccup stumble. He tried to get his balance back but his prosthetic gave away and he crashed onto something and felt something against his lips. His eyes widened and he looked straight into blue ones, which were equally shocked.

You guessed it right people. Hiccup Haddock bumped into the Scottish princess and their lips were touching.

Hiccup quickly pulled away and his heart started hammering against his rib-cage, feeling uneasy with all of this. He looked around and saw his father grinning, Gobber and Fergus looking at them in shock, the gang had their jaws dropped and Astrid-

Hiccup's eyes widened when he saw some tears in her eyes.

"No" he said in horror as he stared at her. She quickly looked away and placed her hand on her mouth as she ran away, tears streaking down her face. Hiccup felt himself go limp when she ran.

"No Astrid. No! Astrid wait-" he yelled but then he was engulfed in a huge hug by his father.

"No dad wait, I've to-" he was cut off by his father once again.

"Well done son, well done! I knew you loved Merida!" Stoick clapped him on the back.

"What? oh no, no, no, no! Who on earth told you that I loved Merida?!" Hiccup yelled.

"No one had to tell me son. I know you, okay? I'm your dad!" he grinned.

"Oh for the love of Thor, I dont like Merida!" Hiccup yelled.

"Thats what they all say son! You're just in denial!" Stoick wiggled his eyebrows.

"I am in love but not with Merida!" he yelled before getting on Toothless and shooting off to the sky.

...

Astrid flopped down on her bed, tears staining her pillow and blanket as she cried. She didn't want to cry. She was a warrior, and warriors don't cry, it makes them feel weak. But right now, she didn't care. All she knew was that her first love broke her heart and she was having her first heartbreak right now. She cried her heart out and didn't care to turn back when she heard the door open. She felt slender arms pull her into a hug. Astrid sucked in a breath and then sobbed onto Heather's shoulder. The latter hummed a song in her ear which helped the blonde to calm down.

But soon, Heather felt Astrid lean way too much on her. She pulled back and saw that the blonde had cried herself to sleep. Heather laid her down and that's when she heard the sounds of a dragon flying at the window and someone knocked on the window.

 _~Earlier~_

"AAAAHHHH!" Hiccup yelled in frustration and fell backwards on the dragon. Toothless just cooed sadly and nudged his hand which was hanging off.

"Why can't my father ever listen to me?!" he yelled and gripped his hair. But then his frustration and anger was replaced by sadness when he remembered Astrid's face when she saw the accidental-kiss.

"I messed up so bad bud" he groaned. He sat up straight and guided Toothless towards the Hofferson house. He didn't want to disturb Astrid's parents so he instead flew to her window. Toothless let his rider lean forward to knock on the closed window.

The window door opened and there stood Heather, wearing only her shirt and leggings instead of her armour. Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes flashed with fury when he saw Hiccup. She swiftly closed the window but Hiccup didn't back down.

"Heather please, I need to talk to Astrid!" he yelled.

"Not listening!" she yelled back.

"C'mon, please!" he yelled. Heather glanced at the closed window but then turned back to the sleeping Astrid.

"Just give me a chance to explain! Please!" he begged. Heather sighed and walked to the window, cursing at herself for being so soft-hearted.

"Backyard, now" she said before shutting the window again. She walked downstairs and saw Toothless descend. She stood between Windshear and Stormfly, who saw her angry expression and stood next to her protectively.

"There better be a good explanation Haddock" she crossed her arms and glared at him while the two dragons raised their tails, Stormfly's spines ready to be shot and Windshear's tail ready to slice through his head.

"There is. Look, none of this was my fault. My father- he sent me off early everyday, ordering me to take Merida to a specific island each day. I had thought he just wanted me to spend time with her so she doesn't feed alone, not really realising that he unintentionally pulled me away from my friends as well. B-but I realised only today that he actually wanted Merida and me to get together. I had overheard him talk about this with the king and Gobber but I just thought that he was joking but didn't know that he was serious about it! I never really liked Merida that way! I thought I did but I just confused myself! And that kiss? It was an accident, I swear!" Hiccup said.

Heather didn't want to believe him, in all honesty. But then just hearing that sincerity and desperation in his voice would even melt Viggo Grimborn's heart, that is, if he was alive, which he was not.

"But then why were you ignoring us for the past two weeks? It really broke Astrid more than the others, you know" she said.

"I really didn't realised it, I swear. Now just let me talk to Astrid, please" he begged.

"She's already asleep. This is the first time I've seen her cry though she mentioned about almost crying when the you almost died" Heather said.

"Oh. Then I guess I'll have to talk to her tomorrow" Hiccup sighed sadly.

"You know, none of this would've happened if you had at least shown that you had feelings for her" Heather sighed.

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked.

"Astrid seriously thinks you don't like her, even a little" Heather looked in his eyes.

"And why would she even think that?!" he exclaimed.

"Well, she said that its always been her making the first move, which made her question herself whether you like her or no" She informed.

"If I knew she thought like that, I would've kissed her the very next instant" he deadpanned. And only then did he realise what he said while Heather gaped.

"Did you just-"

"No" he squeaked.

"So you do like her!" she grinned.

"I don't like her..." he trailed off. Heather groaned and was about to punch him when he spoke again.

"...I've been in love with her ever since she kissed me after the battle" he turned red.

"Really?!" she yelled.

"Geez, why don't you shout louder for whole of Berk to hear?" he rolled his eyes.

"Oh My Thor just wait until Astrid hears this-"

"You're not gonna tell her!" he ordered.

"And why not?" she demanded.

"Because I want to be the one to tell her" he said. **(A/N: Oh Hiccup, if were just** _ **this**_ **romantic in the original series :( :'( *sad sigh*)**

"You got it, lover boy" she smirked.

...

"I'm telling you, I don't want to meet him today" Astrid sighed and strapped her axe to her back and proceeded to wear her shoulder-guards.

Heather bit her lip. She was itching to tell that Hiccup was probably gonna ask her out but she shut her mouth, knowing its for the best. She also made a mental note to beat up Hiccup if he doesn't ask her out today.

"Sure. Lets head for breakfast now" she smiled. Astrid forced a smile on her face and walked to the Great Hall. Heather looked around, searching for Hiccup, hoping he'd be at the Hall. She grinned when she saw Hiccup right outside the Hall, waiting at the door with Toothless by his side. He straightened up and looked at Astrid hopefully. And when Astrid was was not looking, she sent a secret thumbs-up his way.

Astrid stiffened when she saw the auburn-haired viking and looked down, determinedly staring at the ground as she walked. He walked over to the two females as they neared the Hall.

"Astrid I'm rea-"

"Hey guys!" Astrid fake grinned at the gang who were already sitting inside, and she ran, completely ignoring Hiccup. She quickly sat down on the empty seat next to Snotlout. The gang was surprised yet shocked and looked back at Hiccup, who had a heart-broken expression on his face. He looked at her longingly and desperately before looking down. Heather was about to say something but he just turned and walked off to a corner of the Hall. He really didn't feel like having food right now but he couldn't leave Toothless hungry. And for their own safety, the gang decided to not talk about what happened the previous day.

...

"Is that- the chief, the king, Gobber and Merida I see?" Heather furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to glimpse at the middle of a crowd. Astrid was about to walk away but of course, her friends just HAD to pull her to the front of the crowd to witness the fight between the three men.

"You pushed the lad at her purposely!" Gobber pointed his hook at Stoick accusingly.

"But I didn't push their heads together! They kissed on their own!" Stoick defended himself.

"No we didn't! I mean, why the hell would we?! I don't like Hiccup that way! He's my best friend!" Merida yelled.

"When a guy and girl are best friends, they always fall for each other" Stoick smirked.

"And who came up with this stupid theory Chief?!" Merida hissed.

"No one did, its just the way it is" Stoick grinned, confident in himself.

"You did look at the heart-broken face of your son after they accidentally kissed, right?" Fergus rose an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Because they pulled back too soon" Stoick crossed his arms.

"You never understand, do you dad?!" Hiccup stepped into the fight, followed by his forever-loyal friend and dragon Toothless, who was growling.

"Understand what, son?" Stoick asked in confusion.

"Many things dad. And this matter being one of them. You were right about the falling-for-your-best-friend part for me, but not with Merida but a different best friend- not Toothless, Snotlout. Heck, it even kills me when I tell she's my best friend but kills me even more when she says I'm her best friend." Hiccup said in a heart-broken voice. Astrid felt a twinge of guilt hit her heart and looked down but the argument continued.

"So do you mean to say you're in love with some other girl who is definitely not Merida?" Stoick asked.

"I'm sure I am and have been for the last three years" Hiccup said seriously.

"Well, first off, that's a good joke son. And second off, how do I not think that maybe you're just lying about liking another girl when you're trying to hide your crush on Merida?"

"Its not a joke dad, I'm serious. And if you want proof, I'll give you" Hiccup crossed his arms.

"Just bring the girl before me and give me the so-called proof" Stoick crossed his arms as well.

Hiccup blushed a little and glared at his father before determinedly walked in the opposite direction from Merida, grabbed Astrid's hand and pulled her before his father. And Astrid, who was too shocked to do anything, just stared at him with wide eyes.

And once Hiccup stood firmly before his father, he pulled Astrid before him and smiled at her.

"Look, Astrid, I know I've not seen or spoke with you for the past two weeks and even a thousand apologies can't make up to what I did. I really regret ignoring you and the rest of our friends but I really didn't know what I was doing. I just wanted to spend some time with my long lost friend.

I admit, _ignoring you and breaking your heart was the biggest mistake I've done in my life_. And now, I'm not doing this because my father wanted me to. I'm doing this 'cause I want to and 'cause I've been waiting to do this ever since I met you" and without any warning, he smashed his lips against hers and wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her pressed against him. Astrid's eyes widened impossibly more and she just stared at the guy who was determinedly kissing her. On. Her. Freakin. Lips.

Sure, they've kissed before but it's always been Astrid-kiss-Hiccup and not Hiccup-kiss-Astrid. So you really can't blame her for being shocked.

Meanwhile, the gang's jaws dropped but they soon snapped out of their shock when Heather squealed. All five of them, including Snotlout, cheered loudly for Hiccup. And while Gobber and Fergus grinned and fist-bumped and Merida joined Heather in squealing, Toothless stood on his hind-limbs like a human and crossed his arms with something like a smug grin on his face and he literally looked like a father who was proud of his son while Stoick's jaw dropped as well but then he _grinned_.

Hiccup pulled back from the kiss and looked at her lovingly and looked back at his father with the same determination.

"That enough proof?" he asked, his arm still around her waist.

"Actually, more than enough!" Stoick grinned and fist-pumped in the air, which got the others confused and dumbfounded.

"Um, I thought you wanted me to date Merida and I just made it clear that I love Astrid so why are you...happy?"

"Why wouldn't I? This was my plan after all!" Stoick laughed.

"Eh?" Gobber tilted his head.

"Wanna know the truth? Well, I knew you two had something going on from the first time Astrid kissed Hiccup right in front of us. But I became sick and tired of seeing you two acting awkward if you were too close to each other. I knew that I couldn't rely on the gang to bring you together as all of them, including Fishlegs and excluding Heather, were too oblivious of the budding feelings. So when I got the letter from the king, I formulated plan. I don't care whether I get humiliated, as long as future grandchildren were guaranteed. And why would he even not want the best female warrior to be his son's girlfriend and possibly future wife?" Stoick grinned. The people around them laughed while Astrid and Hiccup scorched red in embarrassment and the latter facepalmed.

"So ya did all that for grandbabies?" Gobber asked.

"Duh, of course" Stoick smirked as the two teens blushed beet red and looked away from each other.

"S-seriously dad? And making me kiss Merida for that was too much" Hiccup pointed out.

"I didn't mean for that to happen. I just thought you'd fall on her and then you two would just stand up again." Stoick shrugged.

"Do you even know how much heartbreak the two went through 'cause of that idea?" Heather crossed her arms and rose an eyebrow.

"Well, it did result in a strong relationship now, didn't it?" Stoick grinned and placed his hands on his hips.

"Speaking of a relationship..." Hiccup trailed off and looked at Astrid before swiftly sweeping her off her feet, literally, and carried her bridal-style.

"We have some things to talk about" he whistled for Toothless who came at once.

"Woah, woah, what the-" her eyes widened again when he sat on the dragon and placed her on his lap.

"You aren't considering to ride like this, right?" she asked.

"Aw, M'lady, I thought we were" he smirked before shooting off the ground, his smirk widening when Astrid threw her arms around his neck in fear of falling down, for which he received a well-deserved punch later, and like all punches, this one was followed by a kiss. But this time, both the lovebirds leaned in and kissed and made out for a long time, annoying a certain Night Fury who sneaked away to give them some privacy.


	4. Never Gonna Let You Go

**So even this one is set after Httyd 2. And Hiccup's gonna be hurting and is gonna be a little guilty in this. So please dont blame me that you weren't warned or something like 'Hiccup wouldn't do that' and stuff. I love Hiccup and Astrid, people, and I know they love each other a lot even though their life doesn't have ONLY romance in it. But yeah, that is one of the reasons this is a 'fanfiction'. Hope you like this!**

Hiccup Haddock ran his hand through his hair and sighed as he sat down on his bed after a whole day of duties while Toothless settled down on his slab. The young chief had a tight schedule everyday, reducing his time with the other riders. Though he was kept busy the whole day, while his mother always helped him out, he always felt an empty feeling inside him.

At first, he thought that its just because he missed his dad. But after a few days, he had completely accepted the fact that his father was where he deserves to be: on a high throne in Valhalla. But even after that, the empty feeling never left him. Its like he's always forgetting something. Like, Valka would come by and help him and laugh and talk with him and once she leaves, his mood would come down and sometimes, he would get so deep into thoughts about nothing that he wouldn't even notice the things happening around him.

Hiccup thought back to his schedule. Wake up, greet mom, go to the Great Hall for breakfast, chat a little with the gang, attend to his duties till evening, go on a flight with Toothless and return home late in the night. He would often think back about his day before going to sleep.

And right now, Mr Dragon Rider was frustrated that he was not concentrating on his duties because of this 'empty' feeling. He shook his head and laid back and buried his face in his pillow before starting to doze.

...

The next day morning, the young chief stepped into the Meade Hall and he spotted Astrid sitting with the gang, watching the twins fight, as Fishlegs and Snotlout cheered for Ruffnut and Eret just sat there, used to the craziness of the group. The chief grinned when Astrid made eye-contact with him and he placed a kiss on her cheek once he reached the table. Astrid smiled and the two sat close to each other while the rest bickered as usual.

"Hey, you okay?" Astrid asked, once they finished their breakfast.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" Hiccup asked casually.

"Its just that you look troubled for some reason." Astrid asked in concern.

"I'm fine Astrid. Just had less sleep last night" Hiccup gave her a smile.

"For the hundredth time Hiccup, dont overwork yourself! Please, one of these days you're gonna fall sick!" Astrid said and caressed in cheek.

"Hey, I'll be fine. Really" Hiccup grinned.

"Okay, if you say so. See ya later" Astrid kissed his cheek before she skipped towards Stormfly. Hiccup just watched her with a small smile on his face before returning back to his house to get started with his duties.

...

"Whew! Finally some rest!" Hiccup yelled as he settled down on the grass, Toothless right behind him, grumbling as the dragon laid completely flat on the ground.

"I know bud. We hardly get enough rest nowadays!" Hiccup huffed, laying down next to his dragon on the island from where he had drawn the Itchy Armpit. The Night Fury grumbled in response.

"Hey! You can't blame me! You're an alpha yourself and you complain on helping me with my duties!" Hiccup accused. Toothless mimicked his rider and burst out laughing when he saw Hiccup's expression.

"Ha ha hilarious" Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"To be honest, that was" A familiar voice spoke from somewhere. Hiccup shifted his gaze from Toothless and grinned when he saw his girlfriend sit next to him.

"Good afternoon M'lady" Hiccup greeted, sitting up before getting small peck on the cheek.

"Good afternoon my chief" she grinned.

"Wow, what's got you in such a good mood?" Hiccup asked as he leaned backwards against Toothless, while Astrid sat on his lap as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind her before he placed his chin on her shoulder.

"Hm, lemme make you tell. So, who is the person I've been missing a lot for the past two years?" Astrid asked.

"Uh..." Hiccup trailed off, completely clueless.

"C'mon Hiccup, I know you can do it!" Astrid encouraged him.

"Okay. Mm, Mala?"

"Um, no"

"Throk?"

"Nope"

"Uh- chicken?"

"Seriously?"

"The old Snotlout who flirted with you?"

"Hell no!"

"Geez, Sneaky?"

"Really?"

"Okay, your old axe?"

"Hiccup..."

"Dad?"

"Though I really do miss him, that's not the answer."

"So... Uh- Viggo?"

"You're joking right?"

"To be honest, no"

"Oh my Thor, you are the worst person when it comes to guessing" Astrid teased.

"Hey!" Hiccup said in playfully offended voice.

"So are we gonna continue or should I say the answer?" Astrid asked.

"Oh please do. I'm gonna die before I answer your question" Hiccup groaned.

"Well, remember a person called Heather from the Berserker tribe?" Astrid teased, now shifting her position so that she's sitting on the ground next to him.

"How in the name of Odin did I forget her?!" Hiccup slapped his forehead. Astrid grinned and stood up before heading to Stormfly. And with a small smile, he realised that the so called empty feeling was _gone_ when he was around Astrid.

"So what do you have to say about Heather?" Hiccup asked, his eyes following Astrid as she opened a bag attached to Stormfly's saddle and took out a scroll.

"Well, we're finally meeting up after two whole years!" Astrid said excitedly as she ran over to him with the scroll in her hand. Hiccup quickly stood up.

"That's amazing!" He grinned as Astrid fiddled with the thread tied around the scroll.

"I know right! Like, I've missed her so much these past years and I want to see how she is now!" Astrid said excitedly as she finally opened the scroll.

"So when is she coming?" Hiccup asked.

"She isn't coming here" Astrid said casually but Hiccup's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"But you just said that you two are meeting up" he stated.

"Yeah. But I'm the one who's going this time. I'm gonna go to Berserker island!" she grinned happily. Hiccup's heart dropped, and so did his smile, which went unnoticed by Astrid who was reading the scroll again.

"O-oh. That's nice" he plastered a fake smile on his face.

"I know! Isn't this amazing!?" Astrid said, her ecstasy too obvious on her face. Hiccup's mood just worsened but then he willed himself to hope for the best.

"So, how long are you gonna be away?" Hiccup asked, gulping and crossing his fingers behind his back.

 _Please say just a few hours, please, oh Thor_ _ **please...**_

"A month!"

...

"Hiccup? Are you back home?" Valka's voice echoed through the Chief's house.

"Yeah" came Hiccup's dull reply.

"Son? You alright? I'm not able to come out right now as I'm currently on Cloudjumper's head and-"

"No, no, its okay mom. Just stressed out from my duties" Hiccup lied.

"Okay sweetheart. Had dinner?" She asked.

"Yes mom. I'll be off to bed now" Hiccup replied before climbing up the stairs.

"Sweet dreams!" She called out.

"Doubt it" Hiccup muttered and sat down, thinking back to what happened at the island.

Astrid had been ecstatic over the whole thing and she was rambling the whole time about what she planned to do once she reached Berserker island. She had handed over the scroll to him, which he found out to be a letter from Heather and Dagur, saying they missed all of them and that they wanted them there. Astrid had already asked the others and none of them were ready to go.

Snotlout had to attend another marriage with his father so he had reluctantly disagreed to come. Meatlug was ill so Fishlegs couldn't come. The twins had some 'important business' aka pranking people and they were enjoying it too much that they didn't even listen to her. And Eret, who had no idea about Heather and Dagur, declined the offer, saying he was gonna train with Skullcrusher. And Hiccup, of course, didn't know about this at all.

He had questioned why she hadn't asked him, and she replied that she had tried to talk to him but he had dismissed her and had flown off to a neighbouring island. Hiccup had felt guilty at that moment but then he convinced himself that if Astrid is gonna be away for a whole month, he better spend as much as time he could spend with her. And Astrid had shocked him yet again, telling that she's leaving the very next day. Hiccup had really wanted to go, but he knew that he had much more important business to attend at Berk than enjoy a vacation with his girlfriend, though that sounded more important for him.

The two of them had spent the rest of the evening together but Hiccup barely spoke at that time, as he was too sad and worried for her. Sad that he has to spend a whole month without her and worried that something might happen to her.

But for Astrid's sake, he placed fake smiles on his face and supported her. Normally, she would've quickly known that he was faking it but this time, Astrid was too excited to notice it. And when it started becoming dark, the two riders left after sharing a sweet kiss, though Hiccup wished it had been longer.

Hiccup sat down on his bed and his back hunched as he placed his elbows on his knees and ran his hand through his auburn locks. He wasn't even in his right mind anymore. I mean, its just a vacation right? He didn't have anything to worry about. Its Astrid we're talking about for Odin's sake! That girl could beat up even the strongest men in the whole Archipelago! He shouldn't be thinking so much about it!

But then he bit his lip.

He had every reason _not_ to worry but she's the girl he's always loved! Which also means that he has every reason _to_ worry. Hiccup slapped his forehead and fell backwards on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

To tell the truth, Hiccup didn't want her to go. He knew he'd miss her a lot in the one month. A day? No problem. A week? He'd probably try his best to be in control. But a whole month?!

 _No freakin way._

Hiccup sighed again. And now that he thought about it, he's never been away from her for such a long time ever since Berk was united with the dragons. At the times when he stayed anywhere, Astrid was the second person to stay by his side, first being Toothless though he isn't a 'person'. And Hiccup always managed to make excuses when Astrid stayed anywhere, like that time when the A Team was formed. The young chief rolled and laid on his stomach, burying his face in his arms before a muffled and frustrated yell escaped his lips as he yelled at himself in his head.

 _Stop worrying about her! Its not like you're sending her off to Drago! Its just Berserker island after all!_

...

"And dont forget to send a Terror mail once you reach there, okay?" Hiccup said, refusing to let her hands go.

"Hiccup you already told that eleven times now. I'll be fine! And okay, I'll send a Terror Mail, you can stop worrying" Astrid rolled her eyes but the smile still lingered on her lips.

"What? Its my first time leaving you all alone for a whole month!" Hiccup said in concern and worry.

"I'm not alone Hiccup. Stormfly's with me! And its not like I'm going to some abandoned island or something. Its just Berserker island!" Astrid huffed as she mounted on the saddle. Though its very sweet, overprotective boyfriends can get annoying. _Very_ annoying.

"Yeah, just Berserker island..." Hiccup trailed off, looking down. Astrid bit her lip and leaned down and caressed his cheek, making him look up at her.

"I'll be back in no time! Its just a month! It'll go in a jiffy! And maybe your duties might keep you busy and you might forget about me being at Berserker island" Astrid grinned. But Hiccup's mood was still down. Astrid rolled her eyes before she hauled him up, placing a loving kiss on his lips. Hiccup quickly responded and held her by the back of her head, pulling her in even closer, not wanting to let go.

"Ugh, get a room" Tuffnut's voice broke their moment. Hiccup glared at the twin for a minute before his face adopted the concerned expression again.

"Whatever. Bye guys!" Astrid waved and took off. Everyone else yelled byes and waved, Hiccup included, as the auburn-haired chief longingly stared at the dragon who was rapidly flying out of sight. His hand was still up in a wave and he just stood there, until Toothless nudged him, pointing out that he has some work. And the Night Fury himself looked a bit down that Astrid and his best dragon friend Stormfly won't be back for a long time.

"Let's go bud. Hope this won't be as bad as I thought" Hiccup muttered before he took off to the air. He was tempted to fly to the Blue Nadder and her rider but then he bit his lip, knowing that his girlfriend wouldn't like that. And completely reluctantly, he changed the tail fin's position and flew in the opposite direction, with only one thought in his head:

 _Well, lets just hope I can manage this month without Astrid. It won't be that bad, right?_

...

And to answer that, it had been a _complete hell_ of two weeks. Hiccup had managed to stay sane for the first three days, but then it went downhill. And even in those three days, he hardly spoke, never smiled and just concentrated on his duties. He almost looked like a zombie after the third day, due to lack of food and sleep. He even stopped going to the Great Hall 'cause everytime he went there, his eyes would always search for Astrid's bright smile.

Hiccup had been angry at himself, that he shouldn't be making such a big fuss of it. But then his mood dimmed whenever he remembered that Astrid is probably having fun while he's sulking here. He would space off when working and most of the nights, he would just lay on his bed, thinking about his girlfriend and about her safety, though he knew she could just punch whoever came next to her and they wouldn't dare to even be on the same island as her.

But he couldn't help it, you know? Dude had never left her out of his sight and when he did, disaster struck. Astrid had risked her life too much that he even considered sending her back to Berk back when they were at the Edge, but he knew he couldn't live without her. And these past days, he had been so busy with his new duties as chief, helping Toothless with his new Alpha status and spending his time with his long lost mother that he had kinda shortened his already short time with Astrid.

And to make matter worse, he had recently started getting nightmares of Astrid in danger or even her dying. He would always wake up, panting and sweaty and then fall back asleep to a dreamless slumber. And then he would pretend like that never happened and would keep to himself.

And he had realised another thing as well: the previously mentioned 'empty feeling' had returned, just infinitely worse.

And of course, seeing this, Valka and Toothless got worried, and so did Gobber and the gang. Sure, they knew he missed her but Hiccup never said anyone about his real problems: the nightmares and his increasing fear that Drago might do something to her. Its not like the villain knew about their relationship or anything but he might launch an attack on Berserker island and everyone could get injured or maybe even killed.

But Berserker island wasn't the only island around. Hiccup even worried about the safety of his other allies, like the other Outcastes who remained loyal to Alvin, the Defenders of the Wing and some other islands around the Archipelago. But he was assured by the chiefs that their defences were strong and they even sought advice from him, which he had gladly granted. But who cares about his chiefly stuff? Lets just get back to our story.

And Hiccup wasn't the only one missing Astrid. The others missed her a lot as well. Tuff's and Ruff's pranks grew more reckless and dangerous as there was no Astrid to stop them. Fishlegs struggled to keep them in control and took some help from Snotlout, but the Jorgenson had his own problems with his ass of a dad. Eret soon grew restless and got irritated a lot. Astrid was the only sane person in the group when Hiccup was not around, even Fishlegs would go crazy sometimes, like when he reads about dragons for the millionth time and when he tries hitting on Ruffnut. And though the twins pranked all around the island, they always sit in their usual spots, expecting the shouts from the female viking, which never came nowadays, and that angered them a lot, though they knew she was in Berserker island.

The Hofferson had sent a Terror mail as soon as she reached as promised and Hiccup had read the letter with a sad smile on his face, her happy words about finally reaching Berserker island and seeing her female best friend after a long gap of two years. And at that moment, he was ready as hell to just mount Toothless and zoom to the said island to bring his girlfriend back in his arms.

The Berk chief knew he would miss her, but this was, in his opinion, worse than hell.

Well, back to the present, Hiccup shot up in his bed in the middle of the night, just woken up from a horrible nightmare, where Drago had just easily sliced off his loved one's head off her body. And it seemed so real that Hiccup couldn't help as tear after tear slid down his immensely warm face. And as long as he knew, he had screamed out her name in real life as well. He feared whether his mother had heard him and his doubts were cleared when he heard footsteps approaching his door. Toothless crooned worriedly and nudged Hiccup's face with his snout, to which Hiccup gave a barely noticeable smile as he stroked the dragon.

"Hiccup? Son, is everything alright?" Valka asked, pure concern plastered on her face as she entered the room with a cup in her hand, in which a brightly glowing candle stood.

"Y-yeah, everything's a-alright" Hiccup gulped and placed yet another fake smile on his face.

"Son, you know that won't convince me" Valka sighed as she sat down next to him and weaved her fingers through his soft auburn locks. Hiccup sighed and hung his head in sadness, head bent low as he closed his eyes, letting a few more tears streak his face.

"Hiccup?" Valka gasped silently.

"I miss her mom" Hiccup whispered as more tears escaped his eyes.

"Hiccup" Valka said as she placed her hand on his shaking shoulders.

"I miss her so much! I-I didn't want her to go at all... but I knew she missed Heather a lot and that she needed her own time. She's a free woman, who does what she wants. She can't sit and worry about Berk all the time, even though she is the General. I didn't want to make her the General, knowing its a very dangerous job when war is close but no one deserves the post more than she does and I knew that it means the world to her. I could have just asked her to stay but she looked so damn excited that I couldn't hold her back! And now, I regret letting her go, though a part of me is still happy that she's at least happy right now" Hiccup admitted.

"Its okay Hiccup, let it all out..." Valka soothed him, rubbing his back as Toothless propped himself next to his rider, his full attention on the auburn-haired chief.

"I-I couldn't even manage without her for the first three days but the fact that she's far away from me just saddened me so much that I started going insane. I even got so angry and frustrated that I started wrecking my room in the forge. And that's when I realised how much I _really_ missed her. I mean- I know I shouldn't be acting so much about this but- ever since we became friends after riding Toothless together, I never stayed without seeing her even for a single day. And when I did, I became super worried and she almost drowned and died! And even when she decided to stay on Berk two years back, I stayed with her as I couldn't even imagine staying without her and don't even get me started about when she got the scourge of Odin. And I see it even now mom. Her laying limp in my arms, completely pale and a little green, struggling to stay awake... I know I acted like I was over it but that is one of my worse nightmares" Hiccup let out a choked sob at the horrifying memory.

Valka wrapped her arms around his lean form and Hiccup quickly squeezed her, burying his face in her shoulder.

"Hiccup, I know how you feel. Fearing your loved one might be in danger, your nightmares often haunted by the moments they almost died, or in my case, when they do die. But back when I was away from home, though I feared that Stoick might be in danger and many times about you as well. You were so small and fragile, that I worried that Stoick might get really caught up with his duties as chief and you might get injured. I cried for nights, thinking about you and your dad but then, I knew that if I do my job properly, the Gods might have mercy on me and they would protect you.

"But I knew Stoick was the strongest man in the whole Archipelago and that reassured me a lot. I trusted Stoick and I knew he would protect you as well. Astrid is a strong woman Hiccup, you don't have to be so afraid of her safety. And from what I've heard from Astrid, almost the whole of Berserker Tribe are ferocious and I don't think they would let anything near her as well" Valka assured him.

"I get what you're saying mom. Its just that I've never been away from Astrid for longer than a day! And this- UGH I DONT EVEN KNOW WHY I'M ACTING LIKE THIS!" Hiccup yelled in frustration.

"Hiccup..." Valka pulled him for a hug.

"I-I mean, I used to be hell bent on making dad proud and getting Astrid to like me but after finding Toothless, uniting vikings with dragon-kind became my top most priority that I didn't worry much about anything else. Sure, I used to get panicked whenever I saw Astrid fall off Stormfly's back but somehow, I used to move on from it the next instant. And there was this once when she actually got caught while falling and every time she fell after that moment, I'm always reminded of that one time and always make sure I catch her. And now... I really do regret letting her go Mom" Hiccup sighed, finally controlling his sobs.

"Hiccup you're a brave man. But even the strongest of the strong have their own fears and insecurities and no one can be really strong until they admit their own weaknesses. Yours mainly seemed to be Toothless and your dad, and now me I guess, but I guess I was wrong, you seem to care a lot for her than I thought" Valka said. Hiccup gave a small smile, remembering how hopelessly in love he used to be.

"You have no idea. Astrid has always been the one surprising me. I think I started crushing on her when I hit thirteen. I used to hopelessly try to get her attention and thinking that she would probably date me was one of the reasons I wanted to slay a dragon. But then, in Dragon Training when I was fifteen, she yelled at me once and it really broke my heart and after that, I lost all hope of ever getting her love. But then, when I offered to show her what I saw in Toothless, she changed. And when she wrapped her arms around my waist and practically hugged me from behind, I felt hope surge through me, happiness too. If that had happened a year or two before, I would've probably turned red and would've stuttered but when my sole priority became Toothless, romance seemed amazing yet not as important as my mission to unite the enemies.

"She had kissed me on my cheek that night, and that had really shocked me. And yet, I was filled with hope that there was at least _one_ person, apart from Toothless, who cared for me. And even then, a selfish part of me wanted to encounter her and make her my girlfriend but I knew I had way more important stuff to worry about. And then she had surprised me, yet again, when she showed a much caring side of hers when I had to kill a dragon in front of the whole island. And again, she had been the one to motivate me to get Toothless back when things went downhill. And when I had lost my leg, I believed that she wouldn't want me anymore but then she had kissed me on my lips for the first time. That's something I'm never gonna forget my whole life" he smiled, remembering that magical moment.

"From thirteen huh?" Valka grinned.

"Let's say I was pretty lovestruck even as a kid" Hiccup flashed her a grin. Toothless just rolled his eyes as if saying 'you have no idea'. Valka laughed while Hiccup gave a light shove.

"Thank you for nothing you useless reptile" he commented. Toothless imitated him talking and at once, the two were rolling on the floor, wrestling each other.

"Okay, enough with the fighting. We dont want other vikings waking up and yelling at their chief now, do we?" Valka pulled Hiccup away. The two nodded before Hiccup affectionately stroked the Night Fury's snout.

"So what happened after the battle?" Valka asked.

"We didn't get together at once after the kiss we shared. But we became really close friends, and best friends after that. But then rumours started going around, that because I'm the town's hero, Astrid was trying to seduce me **(A/N: which is literally the reason Merricup (though not all of them, some really do) shippers use, to hate Astrid! And that seriously angers me a lot!** **)**. I even considered not talking to her so that the rumours would vanish but Astrid firmly told me that she was my friend and nothing was gonna change that. That she would stay my friend forever and ever. A great part of me was relieved and happy and yet, the part of my heart which still saw her more than a friend, broke when I heard her say _friends_ forever and ever" Hiccup said with a small smile.

"She was always the one who used to support me in everything. Even three years later, when I was still searching for new dragons, she had been the one to be with me till the end while everyone else made themselves busy on the island. Yeah, she did leave me but I understood her. Her family was not really rich and they were having financial problems, which would explain why she joined the Berk Guard. And when I thought that it was only me and Toothless, we had the amazing idea to go beyond the Great Beyond and explore the new islands. And yet again, Astrid was the first to join me."

"How did you even manage to hold your feelings back for three whole years?" Valka asked, surprised and shocked.

"I guess thinking about dragons drove away other thoughts, though I would sometimes dream about how it would be if we were a couple" Hiccup said with a smile.

"Well anyways, we had great adventures, met with Heather once again and there was this once when Dagur was still our enemy and he had managed to attack Berk. And in that chaos, Astrid's home had been destroyed, but her parents were safe. And when she saw the wreckage that had been her home since birth, she had turned silent that it was almost scary to see her like that. And I guess my crush-insticts kicked in when she said she was gonna sleep at the arena and when I said I would be sleeping there as well, and I was actually surprised when the others stayed as well. And then the next day, she suddenly says that she wasn't gonna return to the Edge with us, saying she was gonna train new dragon riders.

"And even at that one moment, I couldn't bear the thought that I'd be returning to the Edge without her so I stayed as well. Though my reasons were lame, she agreed, after a lot of arguing. And then I understood that she just made the excuse of training new riders when in reality, she didn't want anything happening to her family. I managed to talk to her and seriously, I was beyond happy when she finally agreed to come back with me" Hiccup smiled, staring at the ground.

"And there was this once when I didn't see her for the whole day. I was worried as hell, despite Fishlegs' assurances. And that moment, when I pulled her out of the water and begged her to open her eyes, I really feared that she had died. But then the moment she opened her eyes and spoke to me-whew-I dont think I've ever felt so relieved! And just seeing her break on the inside that her dragon was missing broke my heart as well. She almost looked like she was ready to cry, mom, and I couldn't even do anything.

"And then there's this terrifying incident when she got the Scourge of Odin. She kept saying she was alright but-" Hiccup throat clenched as he tried to not cry. "And as I said, I still see her mom. She looked so pale and weak and- and _dead_ -" Hiccup bit his lip to stop himself from sobbing. Valka quickly wrapped her arms around her frail son, who gratefully hugged back.

"Thanks mom. And when the Buffalord saliva didn't work, I started panicking. Our only hope to save her was not working and two moons had already passed and if we didn't do anything sooner, she could've-" he covered his mouth, shaking his head slowly as he screwed his eyes closed. Valka just rubbed her hand up and down his back while the other buried itself in his auburn locks.

"And seriously, when I saw the colour return to her face, I thanked all the Gods for not taking her away. And I might've admitted that I couldn't imagine a world without her, and now I know how that feels like." He muttered the last part.

"Dont worry son, you know that she's cured and alright now. And wow, you two have been in one heck of an adventurous relationship, literally! When did you even start dating?" Valka asked.

"Oh that? Before our final battle with Viggo, we were trying to tame a Triple Strike when a storm struck. We were forced to retreat and in that chaos, Fishlegs had forgotten to close the stable door. And when Astrid went to check it, lightning hit and the stables were in fire. Not caring about her own safety, she rushed to free the dragons and when she was about to get out, she was hit in the eyes by the lightning. She would've died there if Toothless and I had not gone there when we saw the stables on fire" Hiccup said, his voice fading off at the end.

"How did you know that the stables were on fire?" Valka asked suspiciously. Hiccup turned a bit pink and rubbed the nape of his neck.

"Um, I might have got too worried and kept staring at the stables when I saw the lighting strike." He admitted.

"Now aren't you a protective boyfriend" Valka teased.

"Whatever mom. Well anyways, we brought her to the clubhouse and after some time, Astrid woke up. Her pupils were really tiny and her eyes were a weird shade of electric blue. She walked around, telling and panicking that she couldn't see. I consoled her and somehow sent her back to sleep and-"

"And lemme guess, you never left her side?" Valka grinned.

"She asked us to stay!" Hiccup defended himself. Toothless rolled his eyes and shook his head in a No. "What do you mean 'No'? She asked us remember?" Hiccup asked. Toothless started making weird noises and gestures which only Hiccup understood.

 _"She asked us to stay only till she fell asleep"_

"No she didn't!"

 _"Yes she did!"_

"Fine! You win!"

"So what _did_ she say?" Valka asked amused at how well they communicated. It had taken her about fifteen years to completely understand their behaviour but Hiccup knows all about Toothless in a time of five years!

"She said she wanted Toothless and me to stay by her till she fell asleep" Hiccup admitted.

"And you stayed there the whole night?" Valka guessed. Hiccup became even more pinker as he nodded, which made Valka grin.

"W-well anyways the next day, the other riders had set out to find the dragons who had flown away and Astrid came along, even though I insisted she stayed back. We found Stormfly but then the Triple Strike appeared. I forced Astrid to back off but she didn't. And somehow, Toothless and Stormfly scared him off. And then Astrid admitted that she felt useless and I consoled her and was just about to kiss her, which seriously took all my courage since I have never kissed her 'cause it was Astrid who kissed me- ahem, um, well then as every other time, the moment was ruined by the Triple Strike. And this time, I successfully made Astrid to retreat as Toothless, Stormfly and I tried to tame the wild dragon.

"And unknown to us, Astrid had been listening to the Triple Strike and had him completely figured out. And using Stormfly's spines, she got close to the Triple Strike and tamed him. And then, when we were sitting and watching the sunset, Astrid asked whether I was gonna kiss her in the forest when I admitted, telling that I had wanted it to be perfect. She confessed that she thought that that moment, sitting together and watching the sunset seamed perfect and there, we kissed and became a couple" Hiccup grinned.

"Whew, that was quite the tale son" Valka grinned.

"It was" Hiccup replied, going back to his thoughts. And seeing this, Valka placed her hand on his shoulder, which made him look up.

"Hiccup I know you miss her and want her by your side but trust me, you'll be alright I'm less than two days" Valka said as she smiled.

"Less than two-" Hiccup asked in confusion but then Valka cut him off by standing up.

"You should really go back to sleep son. You have a lot of work you know" Valka grinned before bidding the Chief and the Alpha goodnight as she retreated to her own room. Hiccup just stared at the door in confusion before falling backwards and laying down on his bed. He stared at the ceiling, hoping Astrid would come back soon while another thought kept rolling around his head.

 _Less than two days?_

...

"Hiccup honey, breakfast is ready!" Valka yelled. She waited for the usual reply, but it never came. Her eyebrows furrowed as she walked up the stairs and opened the for, only to find a tangled mess of Hiccup and Toothless on the floor. She burst out laughing at how Hiccup was drooling on Toothless's head like a baby, while the dragon snored peacefully. And her laughter woke them up.

"Mom? What are you doi- wait what's the time- HOLY THOR I'M LATE!" Hiccup yelled as he ran to the bathroom to get dressed. Valka laughed harder when she saw Toothless loft his head sleepily, before slumping back to the ground where he sept peacefully.

Valka bit her lip and looked at the bathroom door, making sure it was locked and that her son couldn't hear her. She leaned over to the sleeping Alpha, and poked his head. The Night Fury groaned and covered his head and snout with his tail. Valka groaned before she pulled his tail away from his face.

"Toothless get up! I need to say something to you!" Valka hissed. The dragon just grumbled before dozing off again.

"Fine then! Guess who is back from Berserker island?" She whispered so that only the dragon heard. Toothless's reaction was instant: his eyes opened wide and he was on his feet in no time. And seeing that he was about to jump around the room in happiness, Valka quickly grabbed his snout and made him look at her.

"But I want you to keep this a secret from Hiccup. Let him get surprised" Valka whispered. Toothless nodded determinedly and saluted with a you-can-count-on-me look. Valka grinned before she heard the door open. She quickly lefgy the room, before the mother and the dragon shared a wink.

"I see that you're awake" Hiccup commented amusedly. Toothless rolled his eyes and went down the stairs, followed by Hiccup.

"Hey mom, I think I'll have to skip breakfast 'cause I am seriously late!" Hiccup said, rushing towards the door.

"Woah, hold up right there son! You dont have to go today!" Valka yelled. Hiccup just turned around and looked at her in confusion.

"After what happened yesterday, I thought maybe you need a day off. So I'll be taking care of Berk while you mister get your head cleared up" Valka said as she lead him to the table and made him sit. Hiccup just stared at his mom the whole time and smiled at the end.

"Thanks mom" he said sincerely.

"No problem. Now eat! I had Snotlout bring you food from the Great Hall, knowing my cooking isn't really the best" Valka said sheepishly as she laid the food in from of him. Hiccup smiled as he started eating.

...

"What's wrong bud?" Hiccup's eyebrows furrowed when Toothless stopped walking as they stood at the Chief's house. Toothless shook his head and pointed at the opposite direction of where Hiccup was walking.

"No, were going this way. Don't you want to have a fast flight today?" Hiccup asked. Toothless just shook his head and pointed at the same direction.

"Why are you so stubborn on going there?" Hiccup asked. Knowing this conversation was going nowhere, Toothless rolled his eyes and bent his head, before swiftly weaving his head between Hiccup's legs from behind and standing up high, causing the Rider to sit on the saddle and hold on to the dragon's neck so that he doesn't fall off.

And once confirmed that Hiccup was seated on his saddle, Toothless jumped down the slope, on which the Haddock house stood, and ran towards the Hofferson house.

"Toothless, what in the name of Thor are we doing here-" Hiccup cut himself off, his eyes widening and his whole form freezing as he spotted a familiar blonde headed female viking feeding some cooked chicken to an equally familiar Deadly Nadder.

Eyes still wide and limbs barely moving, Hiccup slid off the saddle and his heart went crazy when the person turned and smiled at him. He just stood there, staring at her, wishing this wasn't a dream. And Toothless, knowing the guy way too much by then, hit him on his head with his tail. Hiccup snapped back to the present and rubbed his head, when he heard laughter. And that meant only one thing.

 _Astrid Hofferson was back in Berk._

"Wow babe, I return after two weeks and the first thing I see of my boyfriend is him getting whacked on the head by his dragon" Astrid teased. Hiccup was still frozen as he just stood there, next to Toothless.

Astrid's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she made her way to her boyfriend. She waved her hand in front of his eyes but there was no reaction at all.

"Um, hello? Hiccup, you in there?" Astrid asked, knocking on his head. She was about to punch his shoulder when all of a sudden, arms wrapped themselves around her waist and back and a nose buried itself in her neck, pulling her in for a tight hug.

"Hiccup, what's wro-" Astrid stopped talking, her eyes widening when she heard a sob.

"Hiccup?" She called out, still shocked and confused. His arms tightened around her and she almost gasped when she felt his tears against her neck.

"I-I missed you" Hiccup croaked, breaking down into sobs again. Astrid's lips lifted slightly upwards as she wrapped her arms around his neck while one hand stroked his hair.

They stayed in that position for some time, till Hiccup pulled back, finally controlling his sobs.

"Hic what happened? Are you okay? Are- are you sad I'm here?" Astrid asked.

"What? Of course not! Do you even know how much I've missed you for the past two weeks?!" He asked, this time wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her to his chest.

"I missed you too but why are you crying?" She asked, hugging him by his waist as she rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Well, I wouldn't say crying. Happy tears, these are. I've been going nuts without you around" he admitted, pulling her even closer.

"Yeah, I can see that." She said, having noticed how weak and thin he had gotten.

"Well, my dear boyfriend, shall we go have lunch together? I'm really craving for some Yak Jerkey" Astrid said, now pulling back.

"Well, whatever M'lady wants" Hiccup said as they wove their hands together.

"But seriously, did you really miss me that much that you started crying?" Astrid asked, after they took just a few steps. They were still at the backyard of the Hofferson house.

"You have no idea" Hiccup smirked pushing her back. Astrid hit her back with the wall, though not hardly, and glared at Hiccup.

"Hey! What was that for?" Astrid retorted.

"You'll know very soon, like right now!" And with that, he crashed his lips against her, pinning her to the wall in the process. The two kissed passionately for a long time before they pulling back for air.

Hiccup looked her directly in her eyes.

"I've been away from you for way long" he said seriously, snaking his arms around her waist, "And I'm never letting you go again" and with those final words, he kissed her again.

 **Well, how was it? It seriously took a long time to write but I managed to finish it! Please do tell you thoughts about this in the comments!**

 **~The Winter Fury**


	5. The Chief's First Crush

**IMPORTANT POINTS:**

 **a) This takes place after Httyd 2**

 **b) Astrid was born in Berk but then her parents moved to Berserker island, obviously taking their daughter with them.**

 **c) And as Astrid lived only for a short time in Berk, it would mean that she never was part of the Dragon Riders and she wasn't in any of the great adventures (yeah, its painful to think like that** **). Yeah, just divide most of Astrid's work, like training the A team and helping Hiccup in the plan, with the others.**

 **d) And as I told, since its after Httyd 2, Stoick's dead, Valka's back, Eret is part of the group, Hiccup is chief, he doesn't have a girlfriend and Toothless is the Alpha.**

 **e) Heather and Astrid are BFFs nonetheless, so close friends that they're almost like sisters, which would make Astrid and Dagur to have a brother-sister relationship. I mean, yeah, Heather wasn't at Berserker island for long but, come on! We know Heather helped Dagur with the chief duties and Httyd 2 happens 2 years after Shell Shocked so yeah, that's enough time to become close**

 **f) The age of the characters are:**

 ***Hiccup- 20**

 ***Astrid- 20**

 ***Heather- 20**

 ***Dagur- 23**

 ***Snotlout- 20**

 ***Fishlegs- 19**

 ***Tuffnut- 19**

 ***Ruffnut- 19**

 ***Eret- 25**

 **So, I hope y'all like it! Dont forget to leave comments!**

 **...**

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, get your ass down here!" An annoying yet familiar male voice interrupted Hiccup's peaceful slumber. The Chief of Berk groaned and sat up, shook his head and rubbed his eyes to get rid of the sleepiness and looked around to see his best bud lift his head sleepily, looking around at the same time with an angry growl.

"Yeah bud, I dont like to be woken up either" Hiccup groaned before sleepily trudging down the stairs, followed by an equally sleepy Toothless.

"Good morning son" his mother greeted as she placed the breakfast on the table.

"Morning mom" Hiccup mumbled before hugging her and kissing her on the cheek. He rose an eyebrow when he saw the rest of his friends, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Eret and his cousin Snotlout, the one who had yelled at him merely five minutes ago, sitting at the dining table.

"Wha- *yawn* what are you guys doing here now?" He asked and stretched before washing his mouth.

"Well, we're leaving for Berserker island, aren't we? So we decided to come early" Fishlegs chirped.

"Wait, so we came early so that we can go to Berserker island?" Ruff asked.

"I thought we came here for food. Speaking of which, here it is!" Tuffnut cheered as Valka placed some spicy chicken before them.

"Wait, what do you mean by we are going to Berserker island?" Hiccup asked as he sat down in front of his plate after giving some fish for Toothless.

"You didn't think we'd let only you to have all the fun, did you?" Eret smirked.

"Fun? Guys I told you, I'm going there because of some Chief business! I'm not going on a vacation or anything!" Hiccup pointed out.

"You should son, you've been overworking yourself. You've already finished the paperwork needed for two to three weeks. I might suggest you to take a break. And even Toothless would love a fast flight without worrying about your work." Valka said as she sat next to her son.

"But-"

"No buts. We're going on a vacation to Berserker island! Got it?" Snotlout deadpanned.

"Do I even get a say in this?" Hiccup rose an eyebrow.

"Nope!" Ruffnut stuffed the food in her mouth.

"Wait, so we're going on a vacation?" Tuffnut asked.

"Of course!" Fishlegs grinned.

"Yes! We can finally be free!" The twins cheered.

"Free? What have you two even been doing? Except pranking people and setting my butt on fire?!" Snotlout asked. The two siblings looked at each other before shrugging.

"But shouldn't we be asking Heather and Dagur first?" Hiccup asked.

"Already asked through Terror mail. Even got a reply that they'll be beyond happy to have us there" Fishlegs informed.

"So I guess we'll be leaving tomorrow?" Hiccup asked.

"Uh, no. We're leaving today!" Eret munched on his food.

"But dont you guys have to pack some clothes and all that?" Hiccup asked.

"Already done it" Fishlegs replied.

"What? But I said to you about going to the island just yesterday!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"Well, we packed up as soon as you told us!" Ruffnut chirped.

"Unbelievable!" Hiccup gaped.

"Now close that darn mouth, finish your food and then pack some more clothes" Snotlout said as everyone finished dinner.

"Tell me again, why do I listen to them?" Hiccup asked Toothless, who just making laughing sounds, once everyone went outside

"That's because you can't say no to us!" Snotlout yelled from outside.

"Yeah, yeah whatever!" Hiccup yelled back.

"Be at the arena in twenty minutes!" Snotlout yelled before the four of them went to their homes to get their bags and their dragons.

"Sure" Hiccup muttered before rolling his eyes as he started getting more clothes.

...

"Now be careful, all of you" Valka said as the Riders saddled up.

"Yeah, say that especially to the twins" Hiccup grinned.

"Hiccup?" Gobber called out.

"Yeah?" The guy said as he set his prosthetic with Toothless' tail fin.

"Bring a possibly-future-wife when you come back!" The old man grinned.

"Gobber!" Hiccup yelled.

"What? I'm just talking about your dad's wish of having grand babies! I'm your godfather after all!" Gobber grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"He's telling the truth, you know, son. You've never had a crush or a girlfriend your whole life! Even I'm getting fed up" Valka pouted but Hiccup just shrugged.

"It never crossed my mind. But who knows, I might meet some girl there, which won't be happening" Hiccup deadpanned.

"Then what about Heather?" Gobber asked.

"One, Heather already likes Fishlegs. Second, I see Heather as my sister, not my girlfriend or whatever. Geez, I can't even imagine the two of us dating! That's just- Eww!" Hiccup shuddered.

"Whatever son. But I'm telling you, I have a good feeling about this trip." Valka grinned.

"Of course you do. Bye Mom, bye Gobber!" Hiccup said before giving one last hug to his mother from where he sat on Toothless, and after waving to the blacksmith, he took off to the air, followed by his ever-crazy friends.

...

"Dagur, they're here!" Heather shouted as she ran out of the stables.

"Already?" Her brother yelled from inside.

"Yes! Now come here!" She yelled and grinned when she saw the familiar dragons flying in their direction.

"I'm here, I'm here!" Dagur yelled as he ran and stood next to his sister. The two siblings waved when they caught sight of Hiccup, who waved back. The dragons soon reached and descended as the two rushed to greet the Hooligans.

"Brother! How are you?!" Dagur yelled before crushing the Chief in a hug.

"wow, missed you two. But seriously- can't- breath" Hiccup struggled.

"Whoops. But its good to have you here anyways!" Dagur grinned as he pulled back. The red-head then proceeded to greet the others when Hiccup turned to Dagur's sister.

"Heather! Been a long time since I met you!" Hiccup said as the two shared a friendly hug.

"Yeah. Two whole years! How's being chief?" Heather asked once they pulled back.

"Tough. But mum helped me a lot" Hiccup grinned.

"Yeah, you must be feeling like you've made your father proud" Heather grinned reassuringly. Hiccup smiled at the thought of his mighty and deceased father and nodded.

"Feels good to continue what he left, though I won't be as great as him" Hiccup gave a small smile. Heather returned it before she was attacked and pinned to the ground by the twins in a hug, which made the others laugh.

"So new friends, eh?" Dagur asked.

"Yeah. Eret, meet Dagur the Deranged, chief of the Berserker tribe, and Heather the Unhinged, his sister. Guys, this is Eret, son of Eret, former Dragon Hunter who used to work for Drago but now, he is one of the Dragon Riders of Berk along with his dragon, Skullcrusher, ya know, who used to be dad's." Hiccup introduced.

"wait, I know him. You mentioned him in the letter you sent few weeks ago" Heather said. Hiccup nodded before Heather and Dagur shook hands with Eret before all the riders and the dragons left for supper.

...

 _~Next day in the morning~_

"Had a good sleep?" Dagur asked as Hiccup sat down with them for breakfast, Toothless sitting on the ground right next to his rider.

"At least a certain cousin of mine didn't wake me up this morning. And I've got to admit, thats the longest I've slept in weeks" Hiccup grinned.

"Chief duties eh?" Dagur clapped him on his back.

"Yeah" Hiccup winced and tried to rub his back but his dragon beat him to it. He looked around and saw that everyone except the twins were present.

"Um, where are Ruff and Tuff?" Hiccup asked.

"Wrecked the kitchen, finished the breakfast and are now at the stables" Dagur rolled his eyes. Breakfast soon arrived and everyone dug in. Everyone except Heather and the twins as the latters were not exactly with them.

"Um, Heather? Aren't you gonna eat?" Fishlegs asked. The husky guy had not spoken much to the black-haired beauty, knowing he had broken her heart by falling in love with Ruffnut. But Heather had accepted the fact, knowing that the heart just does what it wants.

"I'm just...waiting" she replied, her eyes still stuck to the entrance of the house.

"Sis, I'm sure she's alright. You know Astrid, she never comes back directly. She just _has_ to do some workout on the way back home. Don't worry, she'll be back in no time" Dagur said reassuringly.

"Yeah. I know, but she had promised that she'll be with me for breakfast" Heather pouted.

"And she always keeps up her promise. Who knows, maybe she'll be here for tomorrow's breakfast" Dagur said as he chewed his food.

"You do know that you're not helping, right?" Heather rose an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Dagur rolled his eyes.

"Um, who are we talking about here?" Snotlout asked.

"My best friend from when I returned back to Berserker island with Dagur. We two got really close within a short time." Heather said.

"We had received a Terror Mail from Mala two days before. It was an emergency and since we're closer, ya know, in distance, Mala had asked for our help. I still had my duties and Windshear was not well so Heather's friend volunteered to go to the Defenders of the Wing. And she was supposed to return back home today" Dagur replied.

"Go and come back to the Defenders of the Wing in two days? You must be joking" Hiccup said.

"Do I look like I'm joking? Sure, its impossible for a person who's sailing but not for person on a Dragon's back" Dagur smirked.

"So this friend of yours has a dragon?" Eret asked.

"Yup. A Deadly Nadder" Dagur continued eating.

"How fast does she fly? Please, I need to know!" Snotlout asked.

"Definitely faster than Heather and I. And to be honest, she's probably faster than all of us, except Toothless, thats for sure." Dagur replied.

"Yes! Finally, the Gods have sent a Nadder rider to the earth who can beat my father in a race!" Snotlout cried happily.

"Yeah, right" Hiccup watched his cousin weirdly.

"So whats her name?" Eret asked.

"Astrid. Astrid Hofferson" Heather replied.

"Astrid? Doesn't that mean Divine Beauty or Divine Strength" Fishlegs asked.

"Is there anything in this Thor-damned world that you dont know about?" Dagur asked. The question was left unanswered as Snotlout butted in.

"Divine beauty you say?" Snotlout smirked.

"Woah, woah, I thought you liked Ruffnut?" Hiccup asked.

"Anybody called me?" Ruffnut poked her head through the window.

"Nah" Snotlout replied before the female twin went back to the stables.

"Well anyways, to answer your question, its my choice whether I like any girl around me" Snotlout smirked. Dagur was about to say something but the sound of a huge blast interrupted them. The four boys and Heather quickly forgot all about their breakfast as they ran outside, and saw a house on fire.

"Toothless, come on buddy. Lets help the-" Hiccup was cut off when he heard someone whooping. He looked up and saw a blue Nadder carrying a huge bucket of water. He spotted someone sitting on the dragon when it poured the water on the house. The rider jumped off the dragon and into the broken roof while the Nadder stayed above the house. A few kids ran out and the rider, who had her hood on, ran out behind them.

But just as she stepped outside, a big piece of wood came flying from the burning house. She casually walked forward as the dragon shot off the wood with its fire. Hiccup, Snotlout and Eret's eyes widened and their jaws dropped when the rider's hood blew backwards when the Nadder shot its fire, revealing her gorgeous face. **(A/N: ya know, like how she first appeared in Httyd 1?)**

Hiccup's eyes became half-lidded as he watched her walk towards them, almost in slow motion. Bright and striking blue eyes stared confidently at the Blue Nadder as some of her bangs fell over her left eye. A confident smirk played on her lips as she signalled the dragon to do something before taking hold of a bucket as she ran to the top of a huge rock. She jumped off the rock but her dragon quickly caught her. Hiccup watched in slow motion as she bent sidewards when the dragon neared the ocean. She managed to collect some water and poured it over the burning house and-

"Hiccup! Are you gonna help us or just stand and stare there?!" Dagur yelled. Hiccup snapped out of his trance and quickly mounted Toothless. The two shot up to the sky after Toothless grabbed a bucket in each of his legs while Hiccup got hold of one. The four managed to collect five buckets of water at the same time and poured it over the house, completely putting off the fire.

"Whew, you put off most of the fire in one time though all of us have been trying to put it off after so many trips" Dagur yelled as he flew closer to Hiccup on Shattermaster.

"Yeah" Hiccup replied as he descended. And once he got off, Toothless nudged him and looked at him questioningly.

"What?" Hiccup asked in confusion. Toothless looked unamused as he pointed at the blue Nadder that descended near Heather. Hiccup turned a little pink, which Toothless instantly noticed. The dragon adopted a smug grin and nudged Hiccup in the waist before pointing at the Nadder's rider. Hiccup turned more pink and scratched Toothless' neck.

"Oh shut up you!" he grinned as the two instantly started wrestling. Toothless somehow got caught of Hiccup's shoe and the dragon quickly stood on his hind limbs. Hiccup groaned when Toothless managed to lift him off his feet- um, foot and prosthetic- but worse, he was hanging upside-down this time.

"Alright! You win, as usual!" he threw his hands up, but since he was upside-down, his hands just pointed at the ground.

"uh, Hiccup?" he heard Heather's voice. The Night Fury turned back to meet her, his teeth still gripping his rider's shoe, and met with Heather, Dagur, his other friends and the Nadder rider, who were just staring at them. Hiccup blushed in embarrassment and Toothless quickly opened his mouth, dropping Hiccup to the ground. The others laughed as Hiccup lifted his head and glared at his dragon, who just grinned.

"Need help?" he heard a feminine voice interrupt their staring contest. Hiccup turned his head to the side and saw the Nadder rider offering him a hand, a beautiful smile plastered on her face.

Hiccup turned a little pink as he grabbed her hand and stood up before muttering a thanks, to which she nodded her head in acknowledgement as she stood next to him. Hiccup turned back to Toothless, who had a look that said, _'I helped you at least have some contact with her'._ Hiccup stuck his tongue out at the Night Fury, who copied his actions. The two turned back to the others when they heard someone speaking.

"Well, thanks for the help guys. And now, this is Astrid Hofferson, ya know, the friend we were just talking about. And the Nadder is Stormfly. And Astrid, these guys are the Riders of Berk. I don't even have to tell much to you as you already know about them, thanks to my sister" Dagur introduced. Astrid rose an eyebrow at the 'friend we were talking about' but turned to the others and gave them a smile nonetheless, which lighted a light blush on Hiccup's face though no one noticed it as they were busy staring at the blonde who was standing next to him.

"And wait, lemme guess who is who. Um, the two with the Zippleback are Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston, the guy with the Monstrous Nightmare must be Snotlout Jorgenson, the one with the Gronkle must be Fishlegs, the oldest guy with the Rumblehorn is the new addition to the group, Eret or something and the guy with the Night Fury must be Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, chief of Berk" Astrid smiled at him which got him blushing red but he quickly got it under control and smiled at her before nodding.

"Thats right-" he said before he was cut off by Snotlout falling on his knee with a flirtatious look on his face.

"You really do stand up to your name" he flirted. Astrid merely rose an eyebrow before turning to Hiccup.

"Can I punch him?" she whispered so only he could hear.

"Uh, sure." He replied.

"Believe me sweetheart, it'll take ten men to give me an effective punch" Snotlout smirked. She quickly grabbed him by his shirt and came face-to-face with him and glared so angrily that Snotlout quickly got scared.

"So, you think I stand up to my name, huh? Do you know that my name has _two_ meanings to it?" she hissed.

"Y-yeah. Divine beauty and strength" he stuttered but soon, his smirk returned as he puckered his lips for a kiss.

"Well, lets see if I completely am up to my name" she said before punching him square in the face. Everyone's, except Dagur and Heather's, jaws dropped when her punch threw him off his feet and he landed a few feet away from her.

"Awesome!" Tuff and Ruff gaped at the blonde.

Snotlout looked up in a daze and a broken nose before his vision cleared and he stared at Astrid.

"What a woman!" he yelled before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fainted. Hiccup's and his friends' mouths remained open as Astrid casually walked inside Heather and Dagur's house. Eret whistled when Astrid passed by him but got a kick to his shin.

"Well, are you guys gonna complete your breakfast or what?!" Dagur yelled from inside the house. They snapped out of their trance and went back inside, all of them thinking about the same person, while Eret and Hiccup carried the conscious Snotlout inside.

...

 _~A few days later~_

"So, what happened back there?" Heather suddenly popped from behind Hiccup, scaring the guy so much that he fell off from his seat.

"Heather!" he scolded as he stood up.

"What?" she laughed.

"Couldn't you warn me?" Hiccup asked Fishlegs, who was sitting right opposite to him as the two were speaking about the dragons on the Berserker island.

"She signalled me not to" Fishlegs shrugged. Hiccup just rolled his eyes and took his fallen Inferno and saw that the cartridge was empty. He checked for the other ones and saw that all of them were empty.

"You still haven't answered me" Heather called out.

"Answer you about what?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh you know, we were at the water fall yesterday and Eret accidentally pushed Astrid to the water from a very high rock and you managed to catch her bridal-style and the two of you were just staring at each other's eyes" Heather smirked. Hiccup fought down his blush and just had the same unamused expression on his face.

"Nothing. I was just- um, concerned" He replied nonchalantly.

"Oh really? But that wasn't the only time I saw you together, ya know. Start talking Haddock" Heather smirked.

"There's nothing to tell. She doesn't like me and I dont like her. End of discussion" he said in his 'Chief voice' and raised a glass of water to his lips.

"But I heard Astrid talking to Stormfly about- mmh, what was that? Forest green eyes, soft auburn locks, handsome face..." Heather pretended to think. Hiccup sprayed out the water and choked on it before finally getting rid of the chokes.

"W-what? Really?" he asked. Heather smirked in victory as Hiccup's eyes widened and his cheeks turned red.

"She never said that, did she?" Hiccup asked.

"Nope. But at least I got one thing clarified" Heather's smirk remained on her face.

"And that is.." Hiccup asked, praying that she wasn't gonna say what he thought she was gonna say.

"You like her!" she squealed. Hiccup turned red again and started stuttering.

"W-what? W-what in the name of Thor are you talking about?! Heather two damn weeks since I met her!" Hiccup protested.

"Mhm. Keep telling that to yourself. And I couldn't help but notice, all your cartridges for your Inferno are empty. Why not refill them at the stables?" Heather asked slyly, and it was creeping Hiccup out.

"Uh, okay? I'll see ya guys later" he said as he exited the house with Toothless.

...

Now Hiccup wishes that he shouldn't have listened to Heather. He hid just next to the door once he saw a certain blonde petting Stormfly. He cursed under his breath and was about to go back to Dagur's house but then paused.

"Who is it out there?" Astrid asked from inside. Hiccup visibly gulped and was about to run away but Toothless just pulled him back and pushed him towards the door. Hiccup glared at the dragon before coming to Astrid's view.

"Oh, its just you. For a minute, I thought it was Snotlout or Eret" she grinned. Hiccup returned an awkward grin and scratched the back of his head.

"Um, yeah. My cousin and friends can get pretty annoying" Hiccup replied sheepishly.

"So, chief, what are you doing here?" Astrid asked.

"Astrid, how many times should I say you? Just call me Hiccup. I hate when the ones who are close to me call me chief" Hiccup admitted.

"So I'm close to you?" Astrid asked as she scratched Stormfly's head, to which the dragon responded happily.

"W-what? D-did I say that?" He stuttered and scolded himself in his head.

 _Idiot, idiot, IDIOT! You just HAD to blurt it out!_

"I thought you did" Astrid grinned teasingly.

"Oh, shut it" Hiccup mumbled. Toothless just nudged him before the dragon started to lick its rider.

"No, no! Oh, come on Toothless! Stop!" Hiccup complained and got out of the Night Fury's grasp. He quickly got a piece of cloth out of his pockets and started wiping his face before splashing some water from a nearby bucket on his face before he continued wiping.

"He's adorable" Astrid grinned. The dragon showed one of its Gummy Grins and nudged her hand with his snout. Astrid gasped at first but then she slowly started petting him, laughing and giggling when he started playing with her.

"Oh my Thor! Wow, I actually touched a Night Fury!" she said to herself happily as she continued petting him. Hiccup grinned, watching her play with him. He quickly made his way over to Hookfang, filled some of his cartridge with the nightmare gel and then collected some of Barf's Zippleback gas and some sparks from Belch. He quickly placed the cartridges back in their place on his pant. He turned back to Toothless and laughed when he saw the dragon lick Astrid.

"Careful, it doesn't wash out." he said as he approached the two.

"Geez, why couldn't you have told me tomorrow?" Astrid rolled her eyes and tried to get the saliva off her clothes. Stormfly seemed to be enjoying her rider's plight, which earned her some saliva in the face. Astrid laughed when she saw Stormfly struggle to get it off her face. The dragon walked around, trying her best to get it off but ended up bumping into her rider.

"Woah!" Astrid yelped when she fell backwards and landed on something hard yet soft. She looked up and realised that her head was on Hiccup's stomach and that he had fallen down with her but unlike her, Hiccup landed on his butt and turned so red that his face would have caught fire when he saw her on him.

"I-I'm so sorry" Astrid quickly got up and helped him up as well.

"Uh, i-its no problem. Really" he stuttered. He turned away and took deep breaths to get his face to return back into its original colour.

 _Why the hell am I like this around her?!_

But then he came face-to-face with Stormfly, who was curiously staring at him. And just like how he did with every other dragon, Hiccup held his hand out for her. She sniffed it at first but then let her hold him.

"Wow, you really are good with this, aren't you? Stormfly never usually lets anyone hold her" Astrid commented.

"Er, thanks" he replied as he continued petting her. Astrid suddenly yelped when Toothless brought his head under her arm.

"And seems like Toothless likes you a lot. He doesn't allow many to pet him. He usually gets angry when anyone, except my mom and I, pet him" Hiccup said.

"He's adorable!" she said as she scratched him. Toothless hung his tongue out like a dog who was enjoying the scratches. He even did something like a purr when Astrid scratched him below his snout.

"Yeah, only when he wants to be" He replied. Astrid laughed and walked away from Toothless and to Stormfly, which had him whining. He kept pointing at the saddle and looked at Hiccup and Astrid.

"I think we wants to fly" Astrid said as she stroked Stormfly who was settling down to sleep.

"Yeah, I think so" Hiccup said and got on Toothless, but the dragon stayed in his place and continued whining.

"Um, whats wrong?" she asked.

"I dunno. Whats wrong bud?" he asked and got down to look into his eyes. Toothless pointed at his saddle and then pointed at Hiccup and Astrid again. Hiccup rose an eyebrow first before he understood what the dragon meant.

"Um, Astrid? You wanna join us?" Hiccup asked nervously. What? You can't blame the guy. He was always nervous around her. For some _unknown_ reason.

"I would really love to but Stormfly's already asleep" Astrid gestured to the sleeping Nadder.

"You can ride with me" Hiccup blurted out but then quickly shut his mouth when he realised that he had _actually asked her out._ Sure, not _exactly_ but meh, same thing.

"I- I'm not sure Hiccup. I dont want to intrude or anything. And I'm not sure if Toothless wants me to come, or if you want me to" she replied uncertainly.

"Astrid you're not intruding, I'm the one who asked you, remember? And of course Toothless wants you to come! He likes you, remember?" Hiccup asked. Toothless gave him a look that said _'Am I the_ _ **only**_ _one who likes her?'_

Hiccup just pushed his snout away and directed his attention back to Astrid.

"So, what do you say?" He asked as he got on Toothless' back and opened the prosthetic tail fin.

"But-"

"Do you want to?" Hiccup interrupted.

"Of course I do! I just-"

"Then what are we waiting for? Get on!" He grinned encouragingly. Astrid looked at Toothless' adorable face once before shrugging.

"If you say so! But I better be in one piece when we return" She said before she got on.

"Of course you will!" Hiccup smirked and they were off.

...

"THIS IS AMAZING!" Astrid yelled as she held her arms high in the air as Toothless spined several times.

"I'm actually surprised that you haven't freaked out because of the speed! And dont you do this everyday?!" Hiccup yelled over the wind in his face as Toothless flew just above the water.

"Why in the name of Odin would I freak out?! This is awesome! And yeah, I do spins everyday never done them so fast!" Astrid yelled excitedly and moved her legs so that she was on her knees on Toothless' back.

"That's good to know!" Hiccup yelled. But then he got confused when Toothless shot up to the sky and flew slower.

"What's wrong bud? You tired?" He asked. Toothless shook his head and once they were above the clouds, Toothless slowed down. Hiccup leaned forward and whispered.

"What are you doin-"

"Woah-" Astrid whispered in awe and placed her hands on his shoulders. Hiccup stopped and stiffened when he felt her hand.

Yeah, as Heather had said, it was not the first time they had some physical contact but whenever they sit too close or their hands brush against each other's, they- or at least _Hiccup_ \- would start stuttering and blushing and they would quickly move away but a small- okay, _kinda_ big part of Hiccup always loved the very few moments of contact between the two. And apart from that, Astrid had grown close to Hiccup than the others and the two would talk for hours and they wouldn't even care or notice if whole of Berserker island was burning.

And Hiccup will have to thank Eret for another amazing moment. The previous day, the group had decided to visit an island not far away from Berserker island. Heather had advised them to bring extra clothes and the group understood why when they saw the Waterfalls there. And after making sure that there weren't any Grimoras in the water, everyone had removed their armours and shoes and after removing the dragons' saddles, they had jumped into the water.

Astrid had spotted a huge rock and had decided that it would be a good place to jump from. She had skillfully climbed to the top of the rock while the others waited for her below. But what no one had noticed was that Eret had sneaked up behind her. The guy had called out for her just as she was about to jump, which made her lose her balance. And guess what? Hiccup was right below her and she had landed right in his arms, bridal-style.

Having her so close for the first time, Hiccup couldn't help but stare into her gorgeous azure eyes, while the lady stared back at his equally gorgeous forest-green eyes. And when Astrid fell and Hiccup caught her, her instincts had kicked in and she had wrapped her arms around his neck, which had just brought their faces closer. Hiccup could almost feel Astrid's breath on his lips and the two were in such a trance that they would've kissed right then and there but the others just _had_ to interrupt them. The romantic bubbled burst and awkwardness took over them. Hiccup had quickly yet gently placed her back in the water and they avoided each other's eyes for the rest of the trip. But Hiccup couldn't help but glance at her some times and the two had turned red when Astrid had caught him in the act.

And sometimes when the two talked happily in public, they usually got plenty of jealous glares. They were mostly from Eret and Snotlout and sometimes, other guys around the island would give Hiccup the stink eye for spending so much time with the blonde viking. But they weren't alone, there were plenty of female vikings of their age who would just throw themselves on Hiccup and they would threaten Astrid to stay out of their way, telling that she's already captured the hearts of most of the young men. But Hiccup and Astrid would just shrug them off and would just do what they want.

And right now, Astrid placed her hand on Hiccup's shoulder, he felt electricity run through him, starting from his right shoulder. But then he soon relaxed as Toothless flew through the evening clouds. He looked down at the Night Fury who gave him a smug look.

 _You clever dragon, you..._

Toothless just flew straight before flying higher, above another layer of clouds. The sky was completely a mix of orange and purple. And seeing the view before them, Astrid wrapped her arms around Hiccup's waist, smiling in content. Meanwhile Hiccup started panicking internally but then he calmed down when the Night Fury slapped his hand with its ear when he gripped the saddle too hard. Hiccup took a deep breath and relaxed before he leaned back into her touch. He grinned when Astrid closed the gap between them by placing her chin on his shoulder, eyes twinkling in happiness.

"This looks gorgeous" she whispered and surprised herself by how husky her voice sounded. And Hiccup turned red when he heard her voice but smiled nonetheless.

"Yeah, but thats not the only gorgeous thing here" he replied huskily. But then he realised that he had just _flirted_ with her and slapped himself internally when he remembered that she hated when people flirted with her. But Astrid, whose eyes had widened, just blushed and tightened her grip around him. And sensing this, Hiccup just leaned his head and rested it against hers as she tilted her head so that he doesn't have to move it too much.

And feeling these two cuddle on his back, Toothless gave a self-satisfied grin.

 _Mission Accomplished._

...

The sky became completely dark and Toothless soon grew tired. And as much as he didn't want any of this to end, Hiccup knew the dragon needs some rest. So almost reluctantly, he changed the position of the tail so that they could descend. And when they did, Astrid pulled back and got down. Hiccup missed her touch but turned to her with a smile as he sat on Toothless' back.

"Hey!" He yelped when he felt her fist collide against his shoulder.

"That was for changing the plan" she grinned.

"What plan?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I thought we were gonna be spinning and flying in speed but you changed the plan" she shrugged. Hiccup opened his mouth to protest but then stopped. His eyes widened when he felt her pull him down by his shirt and his breathing stopped when he felt something soft against his cheek. He looked back at her with the same wide eyes.

"And that was for everything else" she whispered before running off. Hiccup just stared at her in shock. And when the matter finally sank in, he did the only thing he could think of.

He passed out.

Well, seems like the Chief's finally got a crush.


	6. Meeting Their Future Selves

**A little something dedicated to FMA-Fangirl33 whom I met in Wattpad, for being such a great friend! Hope you like it, Jan!**

 **This takes place after the end of Twintuition which means Hiccup and Astrid are still not in a relationship.**

"Hiccup, are you done? We're getting late" Astrid called out for the hundredth time in that hour.

"Geez, I'm here okay?" Hiccup replied, stepping out of his cabin as he got on Toothless and flew to where the others were waiting for him.

"I never understand why you take so long to just put on those clothes and to come out!" Snotlout grumbled.

"Says the person who spends literally five hours a day admiring himself in front of the mirror." Fishlegs rolled his eyes.

"Really?! Even Tuffnut is better! He spends only one hour in front of the mirror!" Ruffnut yelled.

"I do not, muttonhead!" Tuff yelled at her.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, JERKASS?" Ruff shouted, offended by his words.

"A MUTTONHEAD, YOU DEAF SISTER OF MINE!" Tuffnut yelled with a smirk on his face.

Ruffnut's face went red in anger. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, before looking at him right in the eyes.

"TEARS!" She yelled as loud as possible. The others just watched on in confusion before they jumped back when Tuffnut fell on his knees, sobbing loudly.

"Yeah, that's what I thought!" Ruffnut huffed to herself.

"What exactly is happening here?" Fishlegs asked.

"There are certain secrets only siblings know, my dear Fishlegs. And those are things you'll never understand" Ruffnut said smugly.

"Enough of this drama. Let's get going!" Hiccup ordered. Everyone got on their dragons and shot up to the sky, getting into formation with Hiccup in the front.

"So why exactly are we going to Berk?" Astrid asked.

"Dunno. My father sent a letter last night, telling it was an emergency. Didn't exactly explain what it was" Hiccup shrugged.

"Could it be the dragon hunters?" Fishlegs asked seriously.

"I really dont hope so" Hiccup replied, falling into a pit of thoughts when he heard Snotlout's uncertain voice.

"Um, guys? Am I the only one who noticed that we're way too close to the ocean?" Snotlout asked. The other riders seemed to realise that they were indeed flying right above the ocean. So close, that if they bent down, they'll be able to touch the water. "Weren't we flying way higher than this height in the beginning?" Snotlout asked again.

The dragons whimpered, starting to act strange.

"Stormfly, what's wrong girl?" Astrid asked in concern as she leaned forward to touch her dragon's head.

"Toothless?" Hiccup called out, before all out them suddenly started plummeting to the ocean. "Bud, what's going on?" Hiccup yelled over the wind. Toothless just gave a confused and strangled groan and before they knew it, they were dragged into the ocean and the world turned black.

...

 _"Hello?! Are you guys gonna wake up anytime sooner?"_

Hiccup's eyebrows dipped, his eyes slowly blinking and opening as he woke up. "Toothless? Astrid? Guys?" He called out as he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"We're here..." Fishlegs replied from somewhere near him. Hiccup finally opened his eyes, shaking his head to get rid of the dizziness before he looked around, and found himself sitting on the floor in a room with blue walls.

"Hiccup? Stormfly?..." Astrid groaned softly.

"We're here" Hiccup replied, placing his hand on hers. She sat up soon enough, rubbing her eyes.

"What happened? Where are we?" She asked.

"I can answer to those questions." A female voice spoke from being them. The riders and the dragons turned around, standing up in defence, only to see two teenage girls standing there, with smirks plastered on their face.

One of them had dark brown hair and brown eyes while the other had pitch black hair and black eyes. Both of them looked about the same age.

"Kids?" Snotlout asked in confusion.

" _Not_ " the girl with dark brown hair deadpanned.

"Who are you? Did you bring us here?" Astrid threatened.

"Woah, woah. No need to get all offensive here! Yes, we are the ones who bright you here. I'm Winter, and this is my friend JanaHani33, but you can call her Jana" the girl with the black hair replied.

"So brown hair is Jana and black hair is Winter?" Snotlout asked in confusion.

"Yes. Was it so hard to get that through your thick skull?" Jana rolled her eyes.

"I dont like your attitude, little girlie" Snotlout narrowed his eyes.

"Really? I dont like yours either" Jana shot back.

"Oh, you wanna fight with me?" Snotlout asked, stepping forward and rolling his sleeves up.

"Gladly" Jana walked forward, cracking her knuckles and just as the two were about to throw punches at each other, Winter stepped between them, raising a hand in front of their face.

"Now that's enough. Oh, and Snotlout? For your own sake, I'd tell you to not pick a fight with her. She can punch you to a pulp since she's probably just as strong as Astrid" Winter replied.

"Why exactly have you brought us here?" Hiccup asked, stepping forward.

"Right to the point, I see. But we can't start yet. We need to wait for a few more guests." Said Winter, as she tried to pull Jana back.

"Let me go Winter, I need to beat him up for ruining my ship so many times!" Jana yelled.

"Ship?" Snotlout tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Um, she's talking about the couple-kinda-ship which you won't exactly understand. Well, anyways, here they are!" Winter announced.

The riders turned around, only to see Stoick and Gobber fall out from a hole in the ceiling. And once they fell to the floor, with such force that the whole room shook, the hole disappeared.

"Dad!" Hiccup yelled as he ran forward to help his father up.

"Hiccup? Are you okay? Where are we?" Stoick asked as he sat up.

"Aye, ma head's spinnin..." Gobber mused, holding his head.

"Well, time to explain. Hello peeps, I'm Winter. Welcome to my dream room called Fairy Tail. This is my close friend Jana, whom I met through an amazing app called Wattpad. You must be wondering why you're here, right?" Winter asked.

"Well.." Jana continued. "Winter here suddenly had an idea of messing you guys up by arranging a meeting with your future selves" She explained.

"Our what?" Astrid asked.

"Your future selves. Meaning, she's gonna bring all of you from the future so that the future riders can meet you, the riders from the past" Janna continued explaining.

"And the point of doing this whole this is..?" Astrid asked again.

"Well, you do wanna know what happens to you in the future, dont you?" Winter and Jana smirked, before the latter started swinging her hands in a graceful manner, her eyes closed as she smiled and moved her hands around, white light trailing behind her palms. And soon enough, her whole being was surrounded by white light as she continued twirling and swaying.

"What is she doing?" Snotlout asked, pointing a finger at her.

"You see, both of us have specific powers. I can bring people from the past, whereas Jana has to ability to bring people from the future. We can bring whomever we want, just by thinking of that person and by taking control of our powers. Mine is a bit more bluish light but Jana's is a bright white. Well anyways, I used my powers to bring you guys from the past, and now Jana's playing her role of bring you guys from the future" Winter explained.

"I still dont know why we're doing this" Hiccup grumbled.

"Well..." Winter tailed off slyly and as stood next to him and gestured him to bend so that she can tell something in his ear. "Don't you wanna know if you had babies with Astrid or not?" She whispered slyly.

"Hiccup?" Astrid raised an eyebrow, confused when she saw Hiccup turn completely red. The blonde hadn't heard what Winter had told him, since she whispered to him, and it was surprising when she saw him turn red right after hearing one sentence. "What exactly did you tell him?" Astrid asked Winter in confusion.

"Nothing" Winter shrugged innocently. "Oh look, they're here" she chirped.

The riders, dragons, Stoick and Gobber watched with wide eyes as Jana's beam of white light split into many rays, each one taking the form of a person or a dragon. Hiccup's eyes really widened when one of the rays took form or a really big dragon.

"Now, after defeating each and every Dragon Hunter, Hiccup felt that it was probably time for them to return home. So the riders left back for Berk. There, we dont exactly know what each of you did, but what we do know is that Hiccup starts making a map, of every possible island around Berk. Berk improved even more, the people were really close with dragons, and everything seemed to go well." She started explaining.

The light forms started to solidify, the other end of the rays which were connected to Jana, now came off her and stuck to the ceiling. Now rid of all the light rays which were stuck to her, Jana came and stood next to Winter, continuing the tale.

"That is, until one day, Hiccup and Astrid meet with a few men who blamed them for destroying their fort using huge icicles. They tell the two that their leader is coming for Berk with a huge dragon army. Hiccup and Astrid escape from there, inform Stoick about their so-called leader named Drago Bludvist."

Gasps of shock were heard from Stoick and Gobber.

"Stoick quickly locks up the dragons to protect them but Hiccup and Astrid escape from there as well. They go to the same men and pretend to surrender themselves, because Hiccup wanted to talk to their leader to change his mind about dragons. But of course, Stoick comes and tells Hiccup who Drago really is and Hiccup takes off after having a small argument with his father. Meanwhile the others left to go back to Berk." Jana informed.

The light forms were almost done, the light fading as it left the figures behind. But before the past riders could see their future selves, black cloaks with hoods fell from the ceiling, covering the figures and their faces.

"What the-" Snotlout started.

"We need to keep up the suspense" Winter winked.

"So anyways" Jana cut in. "Hiccup, who flew away, meets with someone who lived with dragons. Families reunite but soon enough, the place they were staying gets attacked by Drago, who suddenly decides to strike when he captures the riders and gets to know about the Dragon Master aka Hiccup, searching whom the riders capture one of those men, who leads them to Dragon's base. Well, Drago attacks, alphas fight, and Hiccup meets with a fatal loss. And to add to the sorrow, Drago takes away everyone's dragons with him, thanks to his alpha." Jana explained.

"Wait, what?!" Snotlout yelled. Hiccup stayed quiet, his heart beating fast when he heard the 'fatal loss' and 'dragons get captured' parts.

"Anyways, Hiccup and the riders manage to return to Berk via baby dragons, whom the alpha's can't control, and they challenge the alpha once Hiccup gets Toothless back. An epic fight takes place, and in the end, Toothless becomes the new alpha, the dragons return, Hiccup becomes chief and, well, happy ending!" Jana finished cheerfully.

"That was one heck of a tale" Fishlegs gasped.

"Hiccup becomes Chief?! I'm so proud of you, son!" Stoick hits Hiccup hard on the back.

"Yeah, dad, thanks" Hiccup replied awkwardly.

"So, let's get started with what you were really brought here for!" Winter announced. The hoods flew away and the people from the future jolted awake, though their backs were towards the past-riders.

"What the- Where are we?" A voice, very similar to Hiccup's, asked loudly.

"Woah, I could see nothing except for black! And now we're in a totally different place!" Future Tuffnut yelled.

"Um, guys? We're all here" Jana pointed out. The first ones to turn were the dragons, whose eyes shot wide. They saw back and forth between the past and the future ones, completely confused.

"Is that me?" Tuffnut asked excitedly as the future Tuffnut turned. The two of them just stared before they pointed at each other and started laughing.

"He looks exactly like me! Just a little more stubble and a change in clothes!" Past-Tuffnut laughed.

"Sis, look here! There's a lookalike of all of us!" Future-Tuffnut laughed. Future-Ruffnut turned as well, before she stared at her past self.

"Heys, that's how I used to look!" She said, pointing at the smaller Ruff.

"Seriously, that's my reaction when I see how I looked in the past?" Past-Ruffnut raised an eyebrow.

"This is getting crazy" Past-Fishlegs muttered. He blinked when he heard someone say the exact same thing and turned, just to stare at the equally surprised Future-Fishlegs. "Woah, I got more buffer! And I even have a beard!" Fishlegs squeaked.

"Oh my Thor, this is me from the past!" Future-Fishelgs squealed before both of them started talking with each other.

"Now where is my amazing future self?" Snotlout muttered, his narrowed eyes scanning the crowd.

"Is it me you're searchin for?" Future-Snotlout asked from behind him. Past-Snotlout jumped, turned over, but then his eyes became unamused.

"This is how I look in the future? Couldn't you, I dont know, grow up a bit more in height?" Past-Snotlout raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I probably would have been a bit more taller if you had stopped stuffing yourself with food and if you stopped fanning over yourself all the time" Future-Snotlout scoffed.

"Seriously?" Astrid raised an eyebrow, still standing next to Hiccup.

"Hiccup? And uh...me?" A familiar feminine voice called out. Astrid and Hiccup turned and their jaws dropped when they saw Future-Astrid walking towards them.

W-whoa... Hiccup thought as he took in her appearance.

Her blonde hair was as bright and silky as ever, but her hair was beautifully braided to the side, with a small braid running over her head and joining the main braid. Her clothes were very different and had the Astrid-spice in it: feminine and powerful. But the thing which never changed were her bright blue eyes, which were radiant as ever.

"That's you/me?" Past Hiccup and Astrid spoke at the same time, pointing at Future-Astrid, who was just staring at the two of them, before she gave a beautiful grin.

"You guys are from the past, right?" She asked. The two just continued staring at her with eyes wide as saucers. "Oh come on guys, snap out of it already!" She groaned.

"You can't really blame them for being surprised, Milady" another voice spoke up from behind Future-Astrid, who smiled as she turned.

"Wait, is that-" everyone who came from the past stared at Future Hiccup and Astrid, with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

"Woah" Snotlout whispered.

"Who knew Hiccup grew up to become a complete hottie" Ruffnut muttered.

Damn... Astrid thought to herself, before Future-Hiccup looked directly at her and shot her a smile, which got her blushing like mad. Meanwhile Future-Astrid decided to play as well and smirked and winked at Past-Hiccup, who became even more redder than Past-Astrid.

"Control your hormones, son" Stoick laughed as he walked forward along with Gobber. "And goodness, you both have sure grown to become gorgeous lumps" he mused.

"D-Dad?" Future-Hiccup whispered, his eyes wide and his voice cracking.

"So, you're my son, but from the future huh-" Stoick was cut off when Future-Hiccup suddenly jumped into his arms. "Son?" He asked. But Future-Hiccup continued holding him closely as he silently cried on his father's shoulder.

"Lass, what happened?" Stoick turned to Future-Astrid, who stood there with her hands over her mouth, tears spilling out of her eyes. It didn't take her long to run and jump on him, hugging him as tightly as possible. "Whats wrong with you kids?" Stoick yelled.

Hearing his voice, the Future Riders turned, saw Stoick standing with a sobbing Astrid and Hiccup in his arms and quickly ran to him. The Past Riders were even more confused when they saw everyone run up to Stoick to hug him.

"The heck is going on here?" Gobber's voice was heard behind Stoick, though the actual Gobber was standing right in from of Stoick. Still having all the riders cry on him, Stoick and the others turned and froze when they saw Future-Gobber walk towards them, alongside a woman seeing whom Stoick stilled completely.

"Stoick?" Both, Future-Gobber and the lady, gasped, their eyes welling up with tears. But Stoick's eyes were stuck on the lady, who was slowly walking towards him.

"Valka?" He asked, his voice as low as a whisper. Hearing her name said by her husband, Valka lost control of herself. Sobs burst out of her throat and tears slid down her face as she ran towards Stoick and jumped on him. The Future Riders, including Astrid, backed away to give the family some space.

Future Hiccup continued hugging his father close, and felt even more tears slip out when his mother joined them. Though thoroughly confused as to why everyone was crying and why Valka was here all of a sudden, Stoick closed his eyes and hugged them back, one arm around his son while the other was around his wife. The two of them continued sobbing for some time, until they pulled back.

"You moron!" Future Gobber yelled all of a sudden, which made everyone look up.

"Gobber?" Stoick raised an eyebrow.

"Eh?" Past-Gobber tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"How dare you?" Future-Gobber asked, staring at the ground before he suddenly raised his head, surprising Stoick when the chief saw tears in his best friend's eyes. "How dare you leave us?!" He yelled, his anger and frustration pouring out as he strolled forward and hit Stoick on his head using his prosthetic arm.

"Ow! That hurt!" Stoick rubbed his head. But then he froze again when Future-Gobber suddenly hugged him around his shoulders. Stoick just stood there for some time before he finally wrapped his arms around his longtime best friend.

"What the heck is happenin here?" Past-Gobber asked. Future-Gobber pulled back, rubbed his eyes before he turned back to look at the two girls.

"Thank you" he smiled.

"Anytime" Winter and Jana smiled, sharing a fist bump behind their backs.

"But now that you guys have at least seen each other, you might wanna sit down and talk" Jana said, pointing at the number of beanbags placed.

"That's probably better" Past-Hiccup muttered, taking a seat between Astrid and Snotlout.

"You guys have a lot to explain" Past-Snotlout raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, but I think you need to calm down first" Past-Astrid commented, concerned and worried since everyone seemed to cry when they see Stoick.

"You're right, we need to calm down" Future-Fishlegs muttered, taking a deep breath as he closed his eyes.

"But its not exactly easy for us, is it?" Future-Astrid spoke with a sad smile on her face, her hand unconsciously reaching for Hiccup's hand, which quickly grabbed onto hers for support. Past-Astrid and Past-Hiccup glanced at each other, both of them sharing worried looks.

"Anyways, as you probably know, we're all from the future. From which time are you guys from?" Future-Fishlegs asked.

"Um, how exactly are we supposed to answer to that?" Past- Snotlout asked.

"I guess you guys remember the time when the twins were caught by Viggo and the other hunters, when Ruff and Tuff were crazy about their 'Twintuintion' thing?" Past-Fishlegs asked, to which he received nods from the Future riders. "Yeah, we're from that timeline" he finished off awkwardly.

"I guess that was about three years ago, or something?" Future-Ruffnut spoke.

"Exactly" Future-Fishlegs nodded.

"Three years, huh?" Past-Tuffnut mused.

"Well, I think this would be the perfect time to ask questions to each other. So please do not hesitate to ask whatever comes to your head" Winter announced as Jana and her settled down on two beanbags to the side, each having a huge cup of popcorn and plenty of chocolates in their hands.

"So, why did you guys suddenly hug dad like that? And who's that lady?" Past-Hiccup asked.

"Well, you see, if Winter had already explained our past, she probably left out a major detail" Future-Astrid bit her lip.

"And that is?" Past-Astrid asked. The future riders clearly seemed to be struggling to reply before Future-Hiccup finally sighed.

"In the future, when I first face Drago, right before he left with the dragons, he took control of Toothless and used him...to kill dad" he choked out.

"What?!" All the people from the past freaked out, their heads whipping around to see Stoick's face. He was completely shocked, before his face adopted a remorseful look.

"How did I...die?" He asked.

"You..." Future-Hiccup started but then he paused and looked down, as if in pain. Future-Astrid placed a hand on his shoulder in concern, before she turned to the others.

"Shot in the chest...by Toothless's plasma blast, which was actually aimed at Hiccup. Stoick jumped in at the last moment, saving Hiccup but at the same time sacrificing his life for his son" she managed to admit. The shock was still present in the air as the riders tried to take in the information.

"No..." Past-Hiccup whispered to himself as he got up and took a step back. "No..." He shook his head, his hands rising to hold his head. "No!" He yelled before he collapsed to his knees. Astrid and Toothless were quick to come to his side, though the latter quickly stepped back and looked away in guilt. Hiccup looked up, exactly when Toothless looked at him, and his heart broke yet again when he saw the guilty look in his dragon's eyes. He placed a hand on his snout and started slowly stroking him as a tear escaped his eye.

"Hiccup..." Past-Astrid whispered as she placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder, her own eyes filled with tears. She looked up, and so did Hiccup, when Stoick kneeled down before them.

"Well, at least I died protecting my family. That's the best way a warrior and a father would want to die" he smiled, his tears threatening to spill out. His own tears falling freely, Past-Hiccup jumped into his father's arms, just as the past riders ran forward to hug their chief. All of them hugged his left side while Gobber attached himself to Stoick's right.

Watching this, the future riders wiped their own eyes, trying their best not to run forward that very moment. Future-Astrid intertwined her fingers with Hiccup's, leaning her head on his shoulder while Future-Toothless sat at Future-Hiccup's other side. Stormfly had neatly settled down next to Astrid, behind whom future Snotlout, the twins and Fish sat with their dragons. Valka smiled, her face filled with tears as she sat in her chair next to Toothless, Cloudjumper sitting right by her with Gobber and his dragon at the dragon's other side.

Everyone finally broke out from the hug and managed to return to their seats but Hiccup continued to stay at Stoick's side. Past-Toothless walked and stood before the chief, before he bent his head really low. Stoick bent and lifted the dragon's head up, smiling as he gazed into his eyes thanked him for always being with Hiccup. And when this was over, Future-Toothless walked forward and did the same, for which Stoick replied with the same reaction.

And once that was done, everyone was finally back into their seats.

"So, ma'am, who exactly are you?" Past-Hiccup asked the lady who was sitting opposite to Stoick.

"Son...that would be your mother...Valka Haddock" Stoick explained. Hiccup's eyes widened, his jaw dropping as he turned around and met with his mother's smiling face. She got up from her seat, walked over to where all the ones from the past were sitting, and lovingly stroked Hiccup's face.

"You've grown up to be such and amazing man, Hiccup. Your father and I couldn't be prouder" she told him before hugging him tightly. Hiccup stood still for sometime before he finally wrapped his arms around his mother.

"Aw!" Past-Fishelgs squealed, his hands pressed to his face in excitement. Past-Astrid wiped a tear from the corner of her eyes as she smiled.

"No, I'm definitely not crying!" Both the Snotlouts announced as they tried to wipe their tears without the others noticing. But obviously, everyone saw that coming.

"So what exactly do you guys do at Berk? I mean, we know Hiccup goes around mapping the place but what about you guys?" Past-Astrid asked, deciding to break the emotional atmosphere.

"We're just training ourselves most of the time." Future-Astrid commented.

"We patrol around the island and we have a dragon racing match every two weeks!" Future-Ruffnut said excitedly.

"Dragon racing?" Past-Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, remember how you guys invented the game a few days ago? Well, now it's a tradition in our world" Future-Fishlegs explained.

"So basically you're telling me that you guys just train and play, that's all?" Past-Snotlout asked.

"Hey, you try protecting the freakin island day and night!" Future-Snotlout rolled his eyes. Past-Snotlout opened his mouth to say something, when his eyes fell on seomthing else and they narrowed as he stared intently.

"And dont think I haven't noticed that!" He stated, pointing at Future Hiccup and Astrid's intertwined hands. Said couple just blinked in confusion before their eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh yeah, I just remembered that that took place after the Twintuition incident!" Future-Hiccup laughed.

"Which would explain why Snotlout is glaring at our hands" Future-Astrid laughed with him.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Past-Hiccup asked. Future Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other, smirking as they turned back to their past selves.

"Nothing much. Let's just tell that something happens soon enough" Future-Hiccup replied, smirking as Future-Astrid pulled him by his shirt and kissed his cheek. Past Hiccup and Astrid's eyes widened as both of them turned beet red, refusing to look at the other.

"You both get into a relationship?!" Past-Snotlout freaked out.

"I saw that coming" Past-Gobber commented.

"Yes! Grandbabies!" Stoick cheered.

"Dad!" Past-Hiccup screamed as he leapt on his father, trying to cover his big mouth. And while no one was noticing, Past-Astrid snuck away to clear her head from what she just saw and heard.

"Geez, would you please calm down?!" Past-Hiccup yelled at Stoick, his face still pink.

"You can't blame him, son" Valka laughed as she stood next to Stoick, smiling up at him. "To play with grandchildren is the dream of every parent with a child old enough for marriage" she grinned.

"Mom!" Both the Hiccups yelled as they both turned red.

"Wait, dont tell me you're already married!" Past-Snotlout yelled.

"Nah, but we are betrothed" Future-Hiccup smirked.

"Oh really, you want me to believe that?" Past-Snotlout raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you can see my betrothal gift if you want" Future-Astrid stated as she showed a chain she was wearing. Past-Snotlout marched forward and took a look at the main piece before he freaked out.

"What the hell?!" He screamed.

"Wait, that was my gift to Valka!" Stoick exclaimed.

"I was told that you gave it to him right after you got to know about our relationship" Future-Astrid informed as she nudged a blushing Future-Hiccup.

"So who proposed?" Past-Ruffnut asked as she nudged Future-Astrid.

"He did" she replied with a smirk on her face as she pointed at Future-Hiccup who was still blushing.

"Really? I'm proud of you son! I seriously thought the lass will have to pop the question" Stoick said, clapping both of them on their backs.

"Geez dad, thank you for having so much confidence in me" Future-Hiccup rolled his eyes before he pulled Past-Hiccup to the side.

"What's wrong-" Past-Hiccup started.

"Oh its nothing. I just noticed that a certain gorgeous blonde from that past is currently missing from the scene. Don't you want to confront her?" Future-Hiccup asked as Future-Astrid came and stood next to him, the former's arm automatically reaching for her waist.

"What?! You want me to confront her now out of all the possible times?!" Past-Hiccup freaked out.

"Duh, obviously!" Jana popped up all of a sudden, scaring the poor guy. "What? You want me to send Snotlout after her and change future?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"What? Of course not!" Past-Hiccup refused.

"Then go!" Winter appeared, scaring him yet again. "You see her there?" She asked pointing at something outside. Both the Hiccups, Future-Astrid and Jana leaned over to see what she was pointing out and saw Past-Astrid sitting on the railing of the balcony, staring at the sun set.

Past-Hiccup gulped, continuing to stare at her, before he turned back to the others.

"Come on! Why are you holding back?!" Jana groaned as she grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him. "You have been in love with her for as long as you remember! And she's kissed you plenty of times and you've saved her even many more times! So what's the problem?!" She asked.

"Its nothing!" He yelled, pulling back from her grip. "I'm just...nervous" He muttered, looking away.

"Um, Hiccup... I know how you feel, mainly because I am you, and you think that she was just trying to be friendly back when she kissed you, though you want it to be something more. You're just nervous that when you finally confess your feelings to her, she's gonna reject you telling that she just saw you as a friend. And dont try to convince me otherwise 'cause I know you think like that" Future-Hiccup lectured. He was just met with blank stares from the four of them, before Past-Hiccup, Jana and Winter freaked out.

"You didn't have to say that out so loudly!" Past-Hiccup yelled as he hit Future-Hiccup's arm.

"Are you freakin kidding me? You were scared of rejection?!" Jana yelled.

"Dude, just how oblivious are you?" Winter shouted at him.

"Fine! I know I'm oblivious and that I'm a coward, okay?!" Past-Hiccup yelled as he threw his hands up in frustration.

"Aw babe, I didn't know you felt that way about me" Future-Astrid cooed as she stared teasingly at Future-Hiccup.

"Get over it already" Future-Hiccup muttered as he looked away and blushed, before turning back to his past self. "So are you gonna go or what?" He asked.

"I- um- uh-..." Past-Hiccup started stuttering.

"Ugh, this is never gonna end!" Jana groaned before she opened the door to the balcony and pushed him through before she locked the door. "There, problem solved!" She announced as she clapped her hands.

"That's my girl!" Winter cheered as the two high-fived.

"What happened?" Stoick asked as everyone else turned to them now.

"Oh nothing, we may or may not have left Hiccup and Astrid alone on the balcony" Winter shrugged. Everyone just stared at them before they rushed to the windows to see what's happening outside.

"No! Not my Astrid baby!" Past-Snotlout wailed as he looked out at the balcony.

"Shut up!" Jana kicked his butt really hard that it sent him flying to the beanbags.

"Yeah, why go after Astrid when you can have Ruffnut?" Future-Snotlout asked as he wiggled his eyebrows to said blonde.

"What?!" Past Ruff and Snotlout yelled.

"Hey, back off she's mine!" Future-Fishlegs stepped between them.

"Double what?!" Past Fishlegs, Ruff, Tuff and Snotlout yelled.

"Ugh, why didn't you bring Eret as well?" Future-Ruffnut whined as she glared at Jana.

"My bad" Jana shrugged nonchalantly.

...

Hiccup just stood there, his face pink as he stared at Astrid, who was sitting with her back turned to him. He gulped once and glanced at the window, where Jana and Winter were threatening him to go forward, before he looked back at Astrid again. He took a deep breath before he finally cleared his throat to get her attention.

It was almost like slow motion, as she turned around, the evening sunlight falling perfectly on her soft and white skin, the light reflecting her bright blue eyes which widened when they saw him, and the cute blush that tinted her cheeks. Hiccup gulped one more time, feeling his heart go crazy.

 _I dont think I can handle this..._

"Hey" she finally spoke up after minutes of both of them just staring at each other.

"H-Hi" he muttered, glancing at the window again. But then his eyebrows furrowed in confusion when he found the place near the window completely empty, void of two crazy teenagers and a betrothed couple. Sighing in relief, he slowly walked towards her and stood at the railing next to her.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Hiccup asked, pointing at how she was sitting on the railings.

"Nah, I like it" Astrid shrugged as she grinned, before she turned back to the sunset.

"Its beautiful, huh?" She spoke up, smiling softly. Hiccup continued staring at her, before he bent and rested his forearms on the railings.

"Yup" he replied softly, staring at the purple skies with a smile on his face. He averted his gaze back on her when she moved, swinging her legs over the railings and stood next to him. Both of them blushed as Hiccup shuffled over and stood so close that their shoulders were touching.

"So, what did they say back inside?" She asked.

"Well," Hiccup trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck before he decided to be honest. "Dad was just screaming that he wanted grandbabies, Gobber had the 'I knew this was gonna happen' face, Fishlegs kept congratulating me and the future Hiccup and Astrid, the twins were plain shocked, Snotlout was whining the whole time and I got to know that...um...we get betrothed in the future..." He trailed off awkwardly, blushing beet red as he looked to his other side.

"Oh" was all she said, though Hiccup knew that she was blushing as well.

The two of them just stood there, trying to calm their faces down, when Astrid suddenly shook her head.

"Well, what's in the future can't be helped. What's gonna happen is gonna happen. So, shall we go back in?" She asked before she started walking back to the door. Without thinking about it, Hiccup just grabbed her hand, which made her to turn back. "What's wrong?" She asked.

Hiccup bit his lip, hitting himself mentally for acting without thinking before he made up his mind.

"Um, well... As you said, whats gonna happen is gonna happen. But...I dont want to wait for it to happen..." He mumbled.

"Huh? What do you mea- mmphf!" Astrid's eyes shot wide as she was yanked forward and she felt something soft and familiar on her lips.

Astrid froze completely when she felt his lips move against hers, his eyes closed in bliss as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She stood there for sometime, completely shocked and stunned, before she melted in his embrace. She closed her eyes and kissed back, her hands reaching up and cupping his face.

Their kiss went on for aeons, before Astrid finally pulled back, both of them breathing heavily as they stared at each other's eyes, not letting go of the other.

"Wow" Hiccup whispered, his green eyes filled with love and astonishment which just made them shine brighter. Astrid chuckled before she placed her forehead against his, closing her eyes as she did so.

"I am actually surprised though" Astrid opened her eyes, grinning as her eyes shone. "That's the first time you kissed me" she chuckled again.

"Well, never I had the guts to do so until now" he smirked before he leaned his head closer, his lips just millimeters away from hers. "Love you" he whispered before pressing his lips against hers again.

The two of them shared yet another long and sweet kiss before Astrid pulled back, smiling as she replied, "Love you too".

...

"Well, that was unexpected" Future Hiccup commented. Future Astrid gave him a slight shove as the couple continued watching their younger selves confess their love for the other, as the betrothed couple stood on the second floor from where they could see where Past Hiccup and Astrid stood, which made it easier for them to spy on them.

"It is a shame though" Astrid spoke up, turning around and leaning backwards on the railings. "They won't remember anything that happened today, until they reach our timeline" she sighed.

"I know right? I was kinda surprised when I suddenly started getting memories of the past which never seemed to have happened" He smiled, still watching the younger couple.

"Yeah" Astrid spoke softly. "Well, one thing's for sure" Astrid suddenly raised her voice so that he could hear her. "Though she is me, I'm still jealous of her that she gets to kiss him" she sulked.

Hiccup gave an over exaggerated fake gasp, turning around to her as he placed his hand over his heart. "Milady, why would you say such a thing when you've got a gorgeous lump right here?" He threw his head back dramatically, the back of his other hand on his forehead. "I, for sure, am definitely not jealous of them!" He huffed before he looked at her, and found her laughing her head off.

"A-and why is that, Babe?" She giggled as she clutched her stomach, holding on to the railings for support.

"Well..." He trailed off slyly, suddenly leaping forward and placing his hands on the railings and trapping her between them as he leaned close to her face. "As much as I want to kiss her because she's Astrid as well, the one I've been in love with for all these years is standing between my arms right in front of me, looking more gorgeous than ever" he winked before he kissed her.

They shared a passionate kiss, with Astrid's arms around his neck and one of Hiccup's arms wrapped tightly around her waist while the other was holding her head close, fingers digging into her soft and silky hair. They pulled back a minute later, staring at each other before Astrid leaned back a little.

"So I was not pretty before?" She asked in an offended voice, controlling her laughter at his expression.

"Milady, that's not what you say after I kiss you so romantically right after saying a such a beautiful speech on a balcony during such a beautiful sunset nonetheless" He whined, bowing his head to the side and burying it in the part where her neck meets her shoulder. "You killed the mood"

"Well," Astrid laughed as she hugged him back, arms around his neck as she felt his arms snake around her waist, stopping once they were wrapped around it, "You'll just have to spend your time alone with Toothless seeing how I'm gonna be busy with my new post as the General"

"Not fair"

"Nothin is fair in love and war, son"

"I'm not your son"

"More like the father of my son"

"Damn right, Milady"

"Aren't I always, Babe?"

...

"Tell me Winie", Jana spoke up in a dreamy voice, sitting on a balcony on the third floor, overlooking both the couples in clear view. "Are we in heaven?"

"Let's check" Winter replied, counting using her fingers, "I'm having my tab in my hands, a huge bowl of chocolate ice cream next to me, my couples are becoming cannon in different forms, one of my closest friends are next to me and everything is pretty much perfect. Yup, we're in heaven"

"Well, at least they have a lot of teasing to go through. Wanna join me?" Jana smirked, holding up her fist.

Winter smirked back, bumping her fist with hers. "You know I will"

 _ **~Winter Fury**_


	7. Dragon Racing

"And the Thorstons score yet again!" Gustav, who was being the commentator, yelled as loud as possible. The crowd cheered loudly as the twins shared a high-five before heading out to get another sheep.

"See that? That's my future wife!" Snotlout yelled.

"You mean _my_ future wife?" Fishlegs yelled back at him.

"Oh puh-lease! You aren't even _close_ to a competition for me!" Snotlout huffed, turning his head away as he went to hunt for another sheep so that he could give it up for Ruff.

"Yeah, and that's because I'm on a much higher level than you!" Fishlegs replied.

They continued bickering for some time, until they were interrupted by the crowd again when Astrid threw three sheep in her basket at the same time, keeping up her lead in the game.

"You both can go down and fight all you want, because the only ones who are even _close_ to being interested in the game are Eret, the twins and I!" Astrid yelled, skillfully flying past them as her sharp eye spotted another sheep on the cliffside.

Seeing what she was going for, Fishlegs and Snotlout flew as fast as possible, competing with each other to get the sheep first, when Eret swooped down and grabbed it.

"Sorry but this one's going into my bag" Eret winked, flying off to drop the sheep into his own basket.

"He's so dreamy!" Ruff swooned.

"Ugh, I can't possibly lose to him! Let's go, Hookfang!" Snotlout yelled, guiding the Monstrous Nightmare to a tight turn as he searched for other sheep.

"We can't lose either Meatlug!" Fishlegs encouraged the Gronkle, who responded enthusiastically.

"And now, out of the twenty sheep, Astrid has seven which keeps her in the lead, the twins and Eret are following close behind with six sheep each! And that leaves only the black sheep which is equal to ten points! Who will be the lucky winner?!" Gustav yelled.

"We definitely can't lose this, Girl!" Astrid cheered, Stormfly roaring in agreement as they increased their speed.

"I'm sorry Blondie but victory is mine this time!" Eret yelled, following close behind. Astrid just smirked as she casually turned around and met with Eret.

"You may have a fast dragon, but you dont have the years of experience of a dragon rider!" She smirked. Eret just stared in confusion, before he saw Stormfly duck suddenly.

And only then did he catch sight of the huge branch which was standing out. And before he could do anything, he hit the branch face-first and fell of his dragon.

"I told you so!" Astrid laughed, grinning confidently as her blue eyes darted everywhere, searching for a black heap of wool. Her heart leapt with joy when she found the black sheep trying to sneak around from the showdown of one house to the other.

 _No more escape for you, bad boy_

Astrid smirked as she dived down with Stormfly and they sped up.

"Faster Stormfly!" She urged her, seeing the twins and Fishlegs head for the sheep as well. "That's my girl!" She yelled as Stormfly shot into the sky, the black sheep clenched safely in her claws.

"Its now or never Stormfly!" Astrid yelled. Stormfly screeched in happiness, speeding towards the baskets as they flew ahead to seal their victory.

But what Astrid or Stormfly did not notice was that in a hurry to steal the black sheep, Snotlout and Fishlegs used their dragons to push the other off their saddles while flying towards Astrid at the same time. And in front of them were Eret and the Twins, who were definitely not ready to lose.

"Sis, I think its time to use _that_ " Tuffnut yelled.

"Are you sure? We haven't tested it out yet!" Ruffnut stated.

"But this is a crisis of emergency! We have no choice!" Tuffnut yelled again.

"Cut it out you both!" Eret shouted, done with their dramatic acting.

"Fine, we'll use that. But dont blame with if something goes wrong!" Ruffnut yelled. The two of them started giving weird comments to their dragons, who quickly started collecting their gas and sparks respectively.

"Single distraction launch, activate!" Tuffnut yelled. Mouths filled with gas and sparks, the dragons sped ahead, readying themselves.

"1! 2! 3! Fire!" Ruffnut yelled.

But just as the dragons were about to fire, Snotlout and Fishlegs, who had completely forgotten about the game as they were too busy fighting with each other, lost all sense of direction and went plummeting to the ground. Trying to stay in the air, Hookfang flapped his wings wildly and ended up knocking into Eret and Skullcrusher, who bumped against the twins.

"Yes!" Astrid yelled as Stormfly finally dropped the black sheep in their basket.

A few people cheered, but the rest were staring at something behind her, looking completely horrified. Astrid made Stormfly turn around, confused about the commotion going on behind, and her eyes widened when she saw...

...A huge ball of fire heading right for her.

...

"What do you say about heading back, bud?" Hiccup asked, finishing the drawing of the island he just found. "I'm pretty sure the game is probably concluding right now." He stated as he packed up his map. Toothless grumbled, which clearly meant 'Finally!' as he stood up and stretched his wings.

"Well, let's get going!" Hiccup grinned as they shot into the air. They enthusiastically spun, twirled and did all kinds of tricks on the way back to the arena.

But Hiccup's eyebrows dipped in suspicion as they neared the arena.

"Isn't it supposed to be a lot more noisier?" He asked. Toothless grunted in agreement as the two of them rushed to the arena.

Toothless landed on the Chief's platform and Hiccup quickly got off, meeting with Gustav.

"Hey Gustav, what's happening?" He asked.

"The game's at the most important point right now! Astrid is in first place, the twins and Eret in second and the other two in last. They apparently found the black sheep and- here they come!" Gustav cheered.

Hiccup grinned proudly when he saw Astrid drop the black sheep in her basket before she rocketed to the sky with her Deadly Nadder. Some of them cheered, while others stayed quiet. And that's when something like a huge fall was heard.

"What the-" Hiccup started but then his eyes widened when he saw all the riders strewn across the ground while a huge ball of fire went flying directly for Astrid.

"Astri-" Hiccup got on Toothless but it was already too late as the fire hit Stormfly in her side, sending both of them falling to the ground. "No!" Hiccup yelled as he and Toothless flew to them.

Hiccup paused, turning around and looking at Gustav. "Make sure they're safe" he ordered, pointing at the other riders, before the Night Fury flew as fast as possible.

Hiccup almost fell off of Toothless in shock when he saw Stormfly slumped on the edge of a cliff side. "Stormfly!" He yelled as he got off the saddle even before Toothless landed. He stumbled as he ran to her, eyes wide with panic.

Stormfly's wing wasn't burnt, thanks to the dragons having fireproof skin, but the wing on which she landed was twisted in a really weird manner. With Toothless's help, they turned her around and Hiccup's heart clenched in sadness when Stormfly wailed loudly in pain. He looked around, noticing the absence of his girlfriend.

"Where's Astrid?" He asked in worry, as he looked around. "Astrid?" Hiccup called out. When there was no reply, the panic hit him once again, a hundred times worse this time.

"Astrid!" He called out desperately, running around and searching through the trees. "Astrid where are you?!" He yelled, his eyes wildly trying to spot the beautiful blonde. "Astrid, this is not funny!" He warned.

His head snapped in Stormfly's direction when he heard her croon worriedly. He quickly ran to her side, rubbing the horn on her face affectionately, very much like how Astrid did.

"Dont worry girl, I'm sure Astrid is around here somewhere." He assured her, though his own heart was wild with panic. "Astrid where are you?" He yelled.

Stormfly crooned again, and Hiccup realised that she was trying to point at something. "What is it girl?" He asked. Stormfly continued crooning, her head pointing at the cliff edge.

Realising what she meant, Hiccup's eyes widened in horror. His legs shook but he managed to stumble to the edge, where he spotted blood.

"No..." He whispered to himself, almost afraid to look down the cliff. There was a huge rock right below, where he saw even more blood. "No..." He walked even further, standing at the very tip, when his heart dropped.

Astrid's head band was floating in the ocean.

Not hesitating even for a second, Hiccup jumped into the ocean, ignoring Toothless's loud grunts. He tried to swim as fast as possible, not turning back when he heard something else fall into the ocean behind him. He looked around wildly, trying to catch sight of his girlfriend.

Toothless grabbed him by his leg, making him sit on his saddle before he used his wings and swam deeper into the ocean. Hiccup urged him on, his eyes widening yet again when he saw a trail of blood in the water. Toothless kicked his legs even faster when he saw bubbles coming up and Hiccup almost freaked out when he saw Astrid slowly falling into the depths of the ocean, blood pouring out of her forehead and creating a red trail in the water.

He quickly grabbed her and wrapped his arms around her in relief, before Toothless hit him, reminding him of the wound on her head. He quickly pulled out his handkerchief and placed it on the wound, but the blood didn't stop. Toothless quickly got them out of the water, giving Hiccup a chance to suck in some air.

Breathing heavily, Hiccup rubbed off water his face before he looked down at the unconscious blonde in his arms.

"Astrid! Astrid, come on wake up!" He called out. The blonde just laid limply, not showing any signs of life. Hiccup's breathing quickened as his worry increased. "Hey, Astrid, this is not funny! Just wake up already!" He stated. But there was no response.

"Milady, please, wake up!" Hiccup begged, tears covering his vision. He blinked them away, ducking his head to place it on her chest.

Hiccup almost stopped breathing when he heard nothing, but then a small streak of relief entered his heart when he heard her heartbeat. But it was very faint and very slow, and that chased the relief away.

"Fast, bud, we need to get her to Gothi-" but then he stopped, remembering that Stormfly was still on the cliff. The two of them flew to the injured dragon, who quickly perked up when she caught the scent of her rider.

Forgetting her own state, Stormfly rushed forward, nudging her rider gently and her worry increased when Astrid didn't show any response.

"D-dont worry, Stormfly, we'll get her back. She'll be alright in no time and-" his own voice cracked and Hiccup looked down at the woman in his arms, tears filling his eyes. "But first we need to get you to Gobber, I'm sure he can cure your win-"

Stormfly pushed him towards Toothless gently, pointing at Berk. "What?" Hiccup asked in disbelief. Stormfly lovingly touched Astrid's face with her snout, before she looked up and pushed Hiccup again, telling him to take Astrid and go.

"But we can't just leave you here! You-" he stopped again when Stormfly crooned sadly, begging him to take her to safety. Biting his lip in guilt, he looked down and nodded before he quickly guided Toothless towards Berk. Stormfly smiled in gratitude, letting herself to rest now that she knew Astrid was safe.

...

"Gothi!" Hiccup yelled desperately, getting off Toothless's saddle with Astrid in his arms. "Gothi help!" He yelled again. Hearing his voice, a few vikings came out and saw the Chief carrying the female warrior to the healer's house.

"Hiccup!" Snotlout called out, running towards him.

"Is everyone alright?" Hiccup demanded.

"Yes... Hiccup I'm so sor-"

"Go and get Stormfly. She's on Thor's Cliff and her wing is broken" Hiccup ordered before he stomped up the stairs to the old woman's house.

Gothi stepped out her hut in irritation, before her eyes widened in shock. She signalled him to hurry into the house and pointed at the bed, where he laid her down. She rushed to her side, holding her wrist to check her pulse. Hiccup just stood there, staring at her in worry.

Gothi suddenly started pressing Astrid's stomach in a weird way. She continued doing so and soon enough, Astrid started coughing out water.

Gasping in relief, Hiccup quickly kneeled down at Astrid's other side, holding her hand in his own. "Astrid? Astrid are you alright?" He asked in concern.

Astrid coughed some more times before she slowly opened her eyes, just a bit. "Hic...cup?" She whispered.

"Yes, Milady, I'm right here. Dont worry, I'm right here!" He assured her.

"Hic..." She opened her mouth but then she fell unconscious again.

"Astrid!" Hiccup gasped.

Gothi started collecting medicines for her wound, before she turned to Hiccup and pointed at the door. Hiccup just blinked, before he shook his head.

"No, I'm not leaving her" he stated.

Gothi just placed her fists on her hips, glaring at him before she pointed at the door again. Hiccup pouted stubbornly, shaking his head in a 'no'. Gothi started furiously scratching on the ground, before she pointed at it. Hiccup didn't know to read her writing as much as Gobber did, but he understood the words 'waste', 'time', 'wound' and 'get out'. Sighing in defeat, he slowly nodded before he leaned and placed a kiss on Astrid's forehead, where there wasn't any blood.

"I'll be back, Milday," he whispered, reluctantly leaving her side before the door shut behind him. He slumped against the door, sliding down and sitting on the floor before he pulled his knees up and buried his face in them.

"Hiccup!"

Hiccup looked up and saw Gobber and Valka run towards him, before his mother gasped when she saw her son's armor covered in blood.

"Son, what happened? Did you find her?" Valka asked worriedly as she knelt down next to him. Hiccup looked down at his hands, before he slowly nodded.

"Come on, let's get you home so you can change out of your wet clothes" Valka said softly. Hiccup looked up with wide eyes before he furiously shook his head.

"I'm not leaving Astrid!"

"But Hiccup-"

"No, I'm not going anywhere!"

"Hiccup listen-"

"Mom, I can't leave her! Please-"

"Hiccup!" Valka yelled. Stopping his ramble, Hiccup looked up at him mother with tears in his eyes. She hugged him and stroked his wet hair as she felt him relax in her arms. "I understand how you feel, son. But you need to come. You know that Gothi can take care of her" she stated.

"Come on laddie," Gobber whispered, helping Valka to bring him to his feet.

They slowly walked down the stairs and Hiccup just let his arms and legs do what they wanted, his thoughts still on Astrid. He got on Toothless, who crooned reassuringly. Glancing back one more time at Gothi's door, Hiccup sighed before he flew back to his home.

...

"Hiccup?"

Hiccup looked up, trying to control his anger and frustration when he saw the rest of the riders standing before him with their dragons, all of them looking apologetic.

"What?" He asked, looking away from them.

"We just- came to apologize" Eret spoke first.

"Its- Its our fault that Astrid is in danger right now..." Fishlegs whimpered.

"I would say its her own carelessness but the only reason I'm here is because you guys _dragged_ me here" Snotlout stated, crossing his arms and looking away.

Eyes lighting up in fury, Hiccup stood up and stomped towards him, stopping merely a foot away.

"Do you know how much she was bleeding?! Do you know how much blood was there on the nearby rocks when I went to get her?! And do you know _anything_ about how seriously Stormfly's wing is broken?! No, of course you dont! And why's that? Because you couldn't care less about anyone else except yourself! Both of their lives are in danger now thanks to all of you fooling around though I've told you at least a hundred times that carelessness in a freakin Dragon Race game can be very dangerous! And yet, you don't bother listening to what I say because each one of you are busy in your own world!" Hiccup yelled.

All five riders and their dragons just stared at Hiccup in shock, never expecting him to just burst out in anger. Controlling his shaking fists, Hiccup looked down at the floor, trying to calm himself down.

"I'm banning Dragon Racing"

"What?!" They freaked out.

"As chief, I need to keep everyone safe. And this game is proving to be dangerous the more we play. And for everyone's safety, I'm gonna ban Dragon Racing in Berk, and no one can change my mind" he stated clearly, before he stormed out of the room.

The riders just stared blankly, before they turned and looked at the Night Fury, who crooned apologetically before he followed his rider.

Hiccup collapsed on the bench in Gobber's forge, clutching his forehead as he released a very stressed sigh. Toothless grunted in worry, staring at his rider in concern. Forcing a smile on his face, Hiccup turned to Toothless and stroked his snout.

"I went a bit too overboard, huh?" He asked softly, before his gaze turned serious again. "But I really have to ban the game, bud. The first time we played, Astrid ended up with a broken arm and later on Ruff sprained her ankle, Tuff got his elbow twisted, Fishlegs almost set himself on fire and Snotlout broke his nose. And now this..." He said, closing his eyes and trying to think straight. "I really dont wanna do this, but its becoming painfully obvious that the game is very dangerous" he sighed.

"Oh, Hiccup, I didn't see you there son!" Valka called out, stepping into the forge.

"Hey mom," he replied dully. Valka just looked at him in worry, before she came and stood by his side.

"How about you come and see Stormfly. Gobber is almost finished with her" she asked softly. Hiccup nodded before he followed her into Gobber's other room.

The Deadly Nadder was sitting comfortably in the middle of the room, wings closed and head tucked in almost like a chicken that was sleeping. Her breathing was calm and peaceful as she slept, her injured wing skillfully wrapped in bandages.

"Will she be alright?" Hiccup asked, gently stroking her snout which made her smile.

"Just a broken wing. Should get better within a month or two, that's all" Gobber informed. Hiccup sighed in relief, before his gaze became sad again as he immersed himself in his thoughts again.

"Hiccup!" Valka suddenly woke him up from his trance. Hiccup blinked, realising that he had spaced out again.

"I'm sorry, did you same anything?" He asked.

"Mulch just came and told that Gothi has finished her work with Astrid and she's calling you!" Valka reminded him again.

Hiccup's eyes grew wide before he darted out of the room, Toothless following closely behind.

Breathing heavily as he reached the door, Hiccup leaned against the doorsill as he tried to catch his breath. Gothi just rolled her eyes before he ushered him in. Hiccup quickly ran, falling to his knees and grabbing Astrid's hand once he was next to her.

"Milady?" He called out. But he was only met with silence. Sighing in defeat, he looked up at Gothi who was staring at him. "So, is she gonna be alright?" He asked.

Gothi just scratched something on the floor and pointed at it. Understanding absolutely nothing this time, Hiccup just looked at her helplessly. And thats when Valka and Gobber decided to storm in.

"We heard that Gothi had finished healing Astrid" Valka explained their sudden appearance, breathing heavily.

"Good thing you came," Hiccup sighed in relief, grabbing Gobber and pulling him forward. "What does she say?"

"Eh...lets see. Astrid is alright. There's no danger to her life or anything. But she had swallowed too much sea water and the wound on her head is pretty serious so she has a concussion right now, and Gothi doesn't know when Astrid will be waking up" Gobber read out loud.

Relieved that she's alive but worried about her concussion, Hiccup just nodded to him in gratitude, taking a seat next to Astrid and holding her hand.

"So does she have to stay here or...?"Hiccup asked. Gothi shook her head and scribbled something on the ground again, whacking Gobber on the head to remind him to read it.

"She says you can take her back home if you want" Gobber informed, glaring at the short lady.

"I think it would be better if Astrid is in a more familiar environment right now" Valka said. Nodding his head in agreement, Hiccup gently lifted her in his arms bridal-style, before he turned to Gothi.

"Thanks a lot for your help, Gothi" He thanked her, sincere and genuine gratitude on his face. Smiling at the look on his face, Gothi nodded in acknowledgement, happy that she could help. And with that, Hiccup turned around and headed outside.

...

"Thanks a lot for your help, Chief" Mrs Hofferson said as Hiccup laid Astrid on her bed.

"This is the least I could do, Mrs Hofferson" Hiccup forced a smile on his face, before he looked down at the floor, at Astrid, and back at her mother. "Do you mind- if I stay with her, just a little longer?" he asked hesitantly.

Mrs Hofferson just smiled warmly, before she nodded. "Make yourself at home" she said sweetly before she headed out of her daughter's room.

"Thank you!" Hiccup called out, kneeling down on the floor next to her bed. He gazed at Astrid's face longingly before he brought her hand to his forehead.

 _Please, just come back to me, Milady..._

...

With the morning sunlight falling right on her face, Astrid stirred a bit, trying to open her eyes. She groaned softly when she felt her head throbbing in pain and she reached up and touched it, confused when she felt something that was definitely not her forehead.

Finally opening her eyes, Astrid tried sitting up, but gave up soon enough when her whole body protested. She wanted to rub her face, but then felt her other hand held by something familiar.

"Hiccup..?" she whispered, her voice barely coming out. And she was right, when she found the auburn-haired chief sitting on the floor beside her bed, holding her hand as rested his head on the bed next to her. The man was fast asleep, his breathing coming out in an even rhythm and the sunlight making his hair look chocolate-brown. She smiled for a minute before one after another question hit her in the face.

 _Why is he here?_

 _Why is my head aching so much?_

 _Why am I feeling so sick?_

 _Just what the hell happened?!_

Trying to remember the last thing before she blacked out, Astrid frowned when her head hurt even more. Groaning a bit more loudly, Astrid lifted both her hands and clutched her forehead.

 _Cheers...flying...sheep...the race...fire-_

Sitting up suddenly when she remembered how the fireball had come flying towards her, Astrid tried to get out of bed to go and check on Stormfly, but then her headache hit her like a lightning bolt to her head and she groaned much more loudly before falling back on her bed. She cursed herself for being so loud when Hiccup stirred, and it wasn't long before the chief opened his eyes and saw his girlfriend wide awake.

"Astrid you're awake!" he yelled in relief before he hugged her tightly.

"Need...air!" she gasped. Hiccup quickly let go, but he didn't leave her hands.

"I'm so sorry! I- I was just too relieved that I forgot that-"

"Hiccup, you don't have to apologize, okay?" Astrid said, tugging his hands to get his attention.

Hiccup just smiled, before he stared down at the floor again.

"Whats wrong?" Astrid asked.

"It- Its my fault all this happened. If only- if only I had been here instead of going off to finish my map, I would've been able to save you and Stormfly from getting hurt. I- I am the reason you have such a deep wound on your head now. I..." Hiccup paused, his voice cracking as he stopped the tears from flowing out.

Astrid shook her head, placing her hand on his cheek before she made him look up at her. "Its not your fault, okay? I was the one who had been too careless and didn't see the fireball coming towards us. So stop blaming yourself, babe." She said lovingly before her expression became serious. "But what happened to my girl?"

Hiccup hesitated at first, but then he quickly replied when he saw Astrid's eyes widen as the blonde imagined the worst. "She's alright, she's fine! She's good and completely healthy, except for the face that her right wing is broken and she won't be able to fly for a few months" Hiccup informed regretfully.

"I need to see her" Astrid muttered, shuffling to get off the bed. Hiccup grabbed her by the shoulders and pinned her to the bed.

"You aren't going anywhere, Milady. The wound on your head is pretty serious and Gothi is gonna murder me if she finds out I let your out of bed as soon as you woke up" Hiccup explained, not letting her to get up.

"Hiccup-"

"Astrid, I know how you feel but for now, you must rest"

"Fine!" Astrid gave up, knowing how stubborn he could get. "At least tell me what happened after I was brought to Gothi"

...

"You WHAT?!" Astrid yelled, sitting up n bed.

"You heard me right" Hiccup nodded, still staring at the floor.

"Hiccup how could you just _ban_ the game out of nowhere?! It is the _only_ source of entertainment we have in Berk!" Astrid complained.

"But its proving to be more dangerous every single time, Astrid" Hiccup argued.

"But Hiccup-"

"Astrid, I've made my choice. And that's final" He deadpanned. Astried stayed silent after that, making Hiccup anxious that he might have offended her.

"Did you ask anyone else?" she asked suddenly. Seeing his confused expression, Astrid made herself more clear. "Did you discuss with the other elders, like your Mom, Gobber or Gothi, before deciding to ban the game?"

"...No," he replied shamefully.

"Hiccup, I get that you're worried about everyone's safety, but I'm sure everyone would appreciate it if you just add a few more rules instead of banning the game" Astrid said consolingly. Hiccup stayed silent as he held her hands, his eyes closed as he bowed his head.

"You don't know how I felt, Astrid"

"What?" she asked, confused.

"You don't know how I felt," he repeated, unconsciously gripping her hands tightly. "You- you don't know I felt- when I saw that huge ball of fire shoot towards you; when you and Stormfly crashed to the ground; when I saw Stormfly curled into a ball in pain; when I saw you missing; when I saw blood on the ground; or when I held you in my arms, begging you to just wake up. You dont know how I felt when I saw the blood pouring out of your head or when I had to leave you with Gothi, feeling completely helpless and useless" Hiccup rambled, feeling his heart drown in sadness as his eyes brought out his tears.

He looked up when Astrid let go of his hands, and his eyes widened when he felt her lean forward before she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him forward and hugging her. Hiccup quickly hugged back as he buried his face in her shoulder.

"You're right Hiccup, I dont know how you felt. But I do understand the feeling, because my boyfriend happens to attract trouble wherever he goes. Both of us have come really close to losing each other plenty of times, but we have got through it together, haven't we?" She asked softly.

Hiccup just mumbled 'There will always be a Hiccup and Astrid' , which made Astrid smile, remembering the number of times he's used that sentence before. "Of course," she replied, hugging him tighter as she planted her face on his shoulder.

They stayed like that for a while before Hiccup pulled back. "So, what do you think I should do about the game?"

"I'd tell you to talk with the other elders and make up some rules rather than forbidding the game itself. But its still up to you, Mr Chief" Astrid grinned.

"My decision depends on you as well, Ms General and Future-Haddock" Hiccup teased her back.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Astrid rolled her eyes.

"Come here you," Hiccup pulled her close before he placed a loving kiss on her lips, which she returned with passion that matched his own. They kissed for a few more seconds before Astrid pulled back to breathe.

"But it does sound better," Hiccup said. "I'll discuss with the others and modify the game a bit" He stated, smiling when Astrid grinned and nodded proudly.

"Now, thats more like my Hiccup" She ruffled his hair. He was about to say something when they heard a knock on the door.

Hiccup walked over and opened the door, only to meet the gang's guilty faces. They looked completely relieved when they saw Astrid sitting up and inquired about her health as all of them made themselves comfortable in the small room.

"I think all of you have something to tell her" Hiccup asked pointedly. All of them glanced at each before they apologized simultaneously. Astrid just shrugged it off, telling that the wound wasn't that big of a deal, only to get a earful of lecture from Hiccup.

Once they left, Astrid's parents, Valka, Gobber and the A Team took turns to come and visit her. And Hiccup stayed by her side the whole time, giving her medicines, changing her bandages, feeding her food to which Astrid had reluctantly agreed, and even carried her to Stormfly when her legs didn't seem work with her.

...

"You know, you didn't have to do all this" Astrid stated as Hiccup tucked her into bed. "You already have plenty of duties as chief and I'm just distracting you"

"You are doing anything but that" Hiccup deadpanned, getting out her next dose of medicine. "I may be a chief but I'm not stupid enough to go out and see whether Bucket has all of his sheep when my girlfriend needs me. I mean, yes, duties come first but mom told she'd take care of it until you're good to go, so lets just say that I'm having a week off"

"You can be such a lazyass sometimes" Astrid giggled sleepily, her pills kicking in.

"Isn't everyone?" Hiccup asked. Astrid just smiled in response and fell asleep right away. Hiccup smiled softly, leaning forward and kissing her forehead before he headed to his own house.

"Sleep well, Milady"


End file.
